Anthem Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2020 Results

Rhea-AI Summary

Anthem, Inc. (NYSE: ANTM) reported solid growth in its fourth quarter 2020 results despite pandemic uncertainties. The company highlighted its commitment to supporting members and communities, noting significant actions taken to provide care and resources during the COVID-19 crisis. Key initiatives included waiving cost-sharing for COVID-19 testing, expanding telehealth services, and launching several community health programs. Anthem also pledged $50 million to combat health inequities and support community needs, reflecting its focus on innovative solutions and partnerships throughout the challenging year.

Positive

• Strong revenue growth reported in Q4 2020.
• Waived cost-sharing for COVID-19 tests and treatment.
• Expanded telehealth services and relaxed early refill policies.
• Pledged $50 million to combat health inequities over 5 years.
• Provided critical support to communities and care providers during the pandemic.

Negative

• None.

Anthem, Inc. (NYSE: ANTM) reported fourth quarter 2020 results that reflected solid performance across the enterprise.

“Despite uncertainties with the pandemic, Anthem delivered strong growth across all of our businesses in 2020 reflecting the diversity and strength of our portfolio and our unwavering commitment to those we serve,” said Gail K. Boudreaux, President and CEO, Anthem, Inc. “I am proud of all that we accomplished during this challenging time, and we remain focused on supporting our members, customers and communities as a trusted health partner.”

As part of Anthem's efforts to combat the global pandemic, address health inequities, and adapt to the ever-changing healthcare environment, the Company has remained focused on fostering deeper relationships and developing innovative solutions to meet critical needs for its stakeholders. Actions taken during 2020 to support our members, customers, care providers and local communities include:

Care for our Anthem associates

• Deployed business continuity plans and transitioned nearly all of our associates to work from home while maintaining service operations.
• Waived one month of premium costs for associates enrolled in an Anthem health plan.
• Expanded associate benefits to provide additional support, including providing up to 80 hours of additional paid leave, reimbursement of installation and monthly internet service fees for hourly associates, and offering virtual wellbeing resources.
• Ensuring our frontline medical staff are following CDC guidelines and are provided with the proper equipment and supplies to minimize risk to themselves and patients.
• Launched a Winter Wellbeing campaign to continue our commitment to associates' health and wellness by making additional resources easily accessible.
• Launched the confidential Associate Care Service, a 24/7 hotline for emergencies such as food insecurity, childcare for caregiver needs, and support for other needs.

Care for our consumers, customers, and providers

• Waived all cost-sharing for COVID-19 diagnostic tests and treatment.
• Provided expanded telehealth coverage for our members and waived cost-sharing for in-network telehealth visits, including telephonic visits, and those for mental health.
• Relaxed early prescription refill policies for maintenance and specialty medications.
• Working with providers to accelerate claims processing, resolve claims, and accelerate payments to support state-specific Medicaid programs.
• Providing financial assistance to care provider partners facing undue financial pressure and to support ramping up telehealth capabilities and the cost of PPE.
• Offered in-network dental providers a $10 PPE credit per patient, per visit through the end of December 2020.
• Suspended select prior authorization requirements.
• Partnering with our states in the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.
• Launched the COVID-19 Vaccine tool to provide personalized vaccination insights for Anthem members.
• Launched Sydney Care Daily COVID-19 Check-In to help employers and their employees quickly and safely return to work, and make informed decisions about keeping their workforce safe.
• Deployed C19 Explorer, a digital tool that aggregates real-time COVID-19 data to present trends and predictions for communities across the nation to assess readiness to reopen, plan next steps, and respond to potential changes.
• Deployed C19 Navigator, a dashboard solution designed for Anthem employer customers to help inform workplace decisions and resource planning with employee-level data.
• Opened hundreds of digital solutions kiosks in health centers across California to provide real-time video interpretation services and access to telehealth.
• Deployed a Coronavirus Assessment tool within our Sydney Care app to help people quickly and safely evaluate symptoms, assess their risk of having COVID-19, and connect directly to a board-certified doctor via text or video.
• Introduced the Anthem Skill to members of our commercial medical and dental health plans. Through an Alexa-enabled device, members can use the Anthem Skill to take actions such as order prescriptions and quickly access some of their health and dental plan benefit information.
• Facilitating connections with Medicaid beneficiaries and state and social services, helping newly eligible and at risk members enroll in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).
• Outreach to Medicare Advantage and Medicaid consumers to make sure they have necessary medications on hand, their nutritional needs are being met, and critical health needs are addressed.
• Providing resources to support the whole health needs of members, including resources to manage social isolation, job loss, food insecurity, and stress.

Care for our communities

• Committed $50 million from the Anthem Foundation for COVID-19 response and recovery efforts to help areas of greatest need, including care provider safety, food insecurity, and mental and behavioral health resources.
• Partnering with Lyft to provide transportation for at-risk communities to support universal access to the COVID-19 vaccine, with the goal of 60 million rides.
• In collaboration with Gleaners Food Bank, we are working to provide more than 10 million meals in our home city of Indianapolis by providing a $1 million matching grant to fight food insecurity and expand access to nutritious food.
• Collaborating with leading nonprofit partners and others to provide no-cost pop-up flu clinics in vulnerable communities across our markets to make it easier for people to get vaccinated and to increase health equity.
• Providing virtual volunteer opportunities, such as remote teaching or mailing cards to seniors facing loneliness, to help associates safely give back to communities.
• Anthem and the Anthem Foundation are founding anchor partners of XPRIZE Rapid COVID Testing, a collaboration with XPRIZE, OpenCovidScreen and other Blue Cross Blue Shield plans and innovative organizations to launch a $5 million competition to accelerate the development of high quality COVID-19 testing that is low cost, easy to use, and quick-reporting, paving the way for more frequent testing.
• Managing a new study via our HealthCore subsidiary to help understand and combat Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in children, or MIS-C, arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Anthem's associates volunteered 110,000 hours in 2020.
• In 2020, through our Associate Community Engagement Programs, associates raised nearly $6.7 million dollars for community organizations across the country.
• Launched the Pandemic Response Innovation Challenge with MATTER and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois to call on global innovators to develop creative solutions aimed at supporting the health care needs of those impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Additional actions to support society

• Pledged $50 million over the next 5 years focused on directly impacting racial injustice, strengthening our communities, and addressing health inequities.
• Anthem Foundation and March of Dimes have partnered to tackle maternal and infant health disparities by addressing social determinants of health. The $1.1 million grant includes Breaking Through Implicit Bias in Materna

FAQ

What were Anthem's Q4 2020 financial results?

Anthem reported solid revenue growth in its fourth quarter 2020 results, despite the challenges posed by the pandemic.

How is Anthem supporting its members during the pandemic?

Anthem waived cost-sharing for COVID-19 testing, expanded telehealth services, and launched community health initiatives.

What initiatives has Anthem taken to address health inequities?

Anthem pledged $50 million to combat health inequities and improve access to healthcare over the next five years.

What actions did Anthem take for its associates during COVID-19?

Anthem transitioned employees to work from home, waived premium costs, and provided additional wellness support.

How did Anthem contribute to community health during 2020?

Anthem committed $50 million for COVID-19 response efforts and partnered with organizations to address food insecurity and health disparities.