Anthem Blue Cross 2004 Annual Report Download

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2004 Summar y Annual Report
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Table of contents

  • Page 1
    quality care :: improved health :: access :: :: access affordability :: part of the solution 2004 Summar y Annual Repor t

  • Page 2
    ... 30, 2004, with the merger of Anthem, Inc. and WellPoint Health Networks Inc. We serve nearly 28 million medical members nationwide. WellPoint, Inc. is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association in 13 states. We also serve members through other businesses, including UniCare...

  • Page 3
    ... Health care in the United States faces tough challenges: rising costs, concern about the uninsured, gaps in the quality of care, resources strained by chronic disease and unhealthy lifestyles. WellPoint is part of the solution. We work to make quality health care coverage affordable and available...

  • Page 4
    ...฀aging฀population,฀ the฀cost฀of฀new฀technology฀and฀the฀increased฀use฀of฀ prescription฀drugs.฀Other฀factors฀that฀add฀to฀the฀cost฀of฀ health฀care฀are฀legally฀mandated฀benefits,฀unwarranted฀ litigation฀and฀medical฀malpractice฀insurance...

  • Page 5
    ...eligible฀for฀ existing฀government฀programs.฀Extend฀coverage฀to฀ low-income฀Americans฀who฀don't฀qualify฀for฀government฀ programs฀through฀tax฀credits฀to฀help฀them฀buy฀insurance฀ and฀targeted฀extensions฀in฀current฀programs. access :: pages 10...

  • Page 6
    ...By฀averting฀ medical฀errors,฀improving฀outcomes฀and฀increasing฀ efficiency,฀quality฀care฀reduces฀costs.฀So฀the฀same฀ quality฀programs฀that฀help฀improve฀members'฀health฀ also฀help฀hold฀down฀their฀health฀care฀costs. qualit y care :: pages 14...

  • Page 7
    ... WellPoint offer health improvement programs that add to administrative costs? Yes.฀WellPoint's฀health฀improvement฀programs-such฀as฀ helping฀members฀manage฀chronic฀disease-contribute฀ to฀our฀members'฀health.฀And฀while฀they฀may฀increase฀ administrative฀costs...

  • Page 8
    ... cost and use of medical services, prescription drug use, expensive new technology, an aging population, legally mandated benefits, and medical malpractice insurance costs. our part :: What we can do about rising health care premiums WellPoint is taking action to stem the rise in health care...

  • Page 9
    ... own costs. WellPoint is developing products that give consumers more choice and control over their expenses, and we're helping them make informed decisions about their health care. Our Anthem ByDesign HSA couples a high-deductible health plan with a Health Savings Account (HSA)-just one example of...

  • Page 10
    ...cost฀of฀medications฀through฀programs฀that฀make฀it฀ easier฀to฀try฀generic฀drugs.฀And฀our฀innovative฀reference฀pricing฀programs-such฀as฀Blue฀Freedom฀Rx,฀ offered฀by฀Blue฀Cross฀Blue฀Shield฀of฀Georgia-provide฀broader฀choice฀of฀pharmacy...

  • Page 11

  • Page 12
    ...similar number have incomes high enough to buy insurance. The remainder-those with low incomes who are not eligible for existing government programs-are likely to be in low-wage jobs for small employers who do not provide health insurance. Low-income uninsured individuals and families lack access to...

  • Page 13
    ... form of identification to buy health insurance. Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield's Web site, Anthem.com en Español, serves the growing Hispanic population with customized and culturally sensitive information. A special feature of the site, MiSalud@Anthem, offers health news, provider information...

  • Page 14
    ...simple,฀eyeglasses฀and฀dentist฀visits฀are฀also฀included฀without฀the฀need฀for฀separate฀ Persons Without Health Insurance in the United States, 2003 :: vision฀or฀dental฀policies.฀And฀Tonik฀plans฀offer฀discounts฀on฀services,฀such฀as฀fitness฀center...

  • Page 15

  • Page 16
    ... care in just eight key areas, such as screening for certain types of cancer and controlling high blood pressure. We can save health care resources. We can save lives. In a world of rapidly growing medical knowledge, physicians and other health professionals need timely access to information on best...

  • Page 17
    ... chronic conditions such as asthma and high blood pressure. We also address quality from a consumer's perspective by quantifying member satisfaction and customer service. Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield was recognized by the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association in 2004 for developing medical policy...

  • Page 18
    ... care. Anthem฀ Blue฀ Cross฀ and฀ Blue฀ Shield's฀ Quality-in-Sights฀Hospital฀Incentive฀Program฀in฀Virginia฀rewards฀hospitals฀for฀improvements฀ in฀patient฀safety,฀patient฀health฀and฀patient฀satisfaction.฀The฀16฀hospitals฀that฀participated...

  • Page 19

  • Page 20
    improved health Health care in the United States faces growing challenges from an aging population, chronic diseases and unhealthy lifestyles. WellPoint is addressing these challenges by providing members with information and support to help them be as healthy as they can be. the challenge :: Go ...

  • Page 21
    ...annual doctor visits and getting recommended immunizations. The WellPoint family of companies offers programs and online tools to help members take control of their health. Anthem Healthy Solutions is a group of programs promoting health education, prevention, detection and management. Some programs...

  • Page 22
    ...the฀state฀Department฀ of฀Education. WellPoint฀ developed฀ the฀ guide฀ with฀ the฀ American฀ Dietetic฀ Association฀ in฀ response฀ to฀ a฀ federal฀ government฀study฀that฀reported฀a฀"communication฀shortfall"฀between฀physicians฀and฀families฀creates...

  • Page 23

  • Page 24
    ...that reduce administrative expense while improving customer service. Innovation to Reach New Customers WellPoint, Inc. unites two companies that have led the industry in attracting new members over the past eight years. In 2004, our combined membership grew by almost 1.7 million medical members, or...

  • Page 25
    ... into tax-advantaged Health Savings Accounts, or HSAs. We support our HSA products with Internet-based tools that help our members make informed decisions. One such tool helps members estimate and compare the likely total cost for different treatment plans. Additionally, we are offering new Medicare...

  • Page 26
    ... President and Chief Executive Officer consumers can use to consider their health care options. We can provide information on outcomes and best practices that physicians can apply to decisions on patient care. For example, as a result of emerging concerns about the COX-2 class of drugs, we reviewed...

  • Page 27
    ... of service on the boards of Anthem, Inc. and WellPoint Health Networks Inc. We also want to acknowledge Allan Hubbard, who served on the board of WellPoint, Inc. until his appointment as director of the National Economic Council at The White House in January 2005. The leadership team of the new...

  • Page 28
    ... Texas. WellPoint's specialty companies provide a full range of benefits and services to our health plan customers, including pharmacy benefit management; vision, dental and behavioral health benefits; group life and disability insurance benefits; workers' compensation; and long-term care insurance...

  • Page 29
    Financial Highlights The information presented below is as reported in WellPoint's 2004 Annual Report on Form 10-K. On November 30, 2004, Anthem, Inc. acquired WellPoint Health Networks Inc., and Anthem, Inc. changed its name to WellPoint, Inc. Accordingly, 2004 financial results include operations...

  • Page 30
    ... assets Liabilities and shareholders' equity Liabilities Current liabilities: Policy liabilities: Medical claims payable Reserves for future policy benefits Other policyholder liabilities Total policy liabilities Unearned income Accounts payable and accrued expenses Income taxes payable Security...

  • Page 31
    ... General and administrative expense Total selling, general and administrative expense Cost of drugs Interest expense Amortization of other intangible assets Merger-related undertakings Loss on repurchase of debt securities Expenses Income before income taxes Income taxes Net income Net income per...

  • Page 32
    ...Security Units stock purchase contracts Repurchase and retirement of common stock Proceeds from employee stock purchase plan and exercise of stock options Costs related to the issuance of common stock for WellPoint Health Networks Inc. merger and Trigon Healthcare, Inc. acquisition Net cash provided...

  • Page 33
    ... (toll-free) E-mail: [email protected] Account Questions Our transfer agent, EquiServe, can help you with a variety of shareholder-related services, including: Change of address Transfer of stock to another person Lost stock certificates Additional administrative services Please...

  • Page 34
    ... (3) President and CEO Blue Cross Blue Shield of Wisconsin and Corporate Executive Vice President Mark฀L.฀Boxer Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer Randall฀J.฀Lewis Senior Vice President Internal Audit and Chief Compliance Officer Compensation Committee William J. Ryan...

  • Page 35
    ...Affairs Lenox฀D.฀Baker,฀Jr.,฀M.D. President Mid-Atlantic Cardiothoracic Surgeons, Ltd. Victor฀S.฀Liss Vice Chairman Trans-Lux Corporation William฀J.฀Ryan Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Banknorth Group, Inc. L.฀Ben฀Lytle Chairman and CEO AXIA Health Management...

  • Page 36
    120 Monument Circle Indianapolis, IN 46204 www.wellpoint.com WLP-AR-05