Elevance Health, one of the nation’s largest insurers, added more members in 2022, fueled by growth in its government business thanks to continued relaxed eligibility rules on enrollment.
Elevance ended the year covering 47.5 million people, a nearly 5% increase from the prior-year period, driven largely by growth in Medicaid members.
In turn, total revenue climbed 13% to nearly $157 billion for the year as the insurer collected higher premium revenue from its Medicaid plans.
Net income dipped about 1% to $6 billion for the full year as expenses climbed about 14%.
As part of federal pandemic-era protections, states are barred from kicking Medicaid members off their plans even if their eligibility may have changed. Eligibility checks, or redeterminations, are expected to restart this year. Millions are poised to lose coverage, according to estimates from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Elevance CEO Gail Boudreaux said they will work with states to minimize potential coverage losses.
Wednesday’s call with investors comes on the heels of Elevance’s Monday announcement that it plans to buy Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana for an undisclosed sum.
Boudreaux did not elaborate when asked about the potential “tricky” approval process the deal may face, and the company’s confidence level in closing the deal by year-end.
“This will be subject to the normal closing conditions,” Boudreaux said.