Anthem Blue Cross 2006 Annual Report Download - page 5

To our Shareholders, Customers
and Communities:
One in every 10 Americans is a member of a
WellPoint health plan. For us, that’s a tremendous
privilege and responsibility.
We realize that each of those 34 million members
— and every consumer we provide with vision and
dental benefits, pharmacy benefit management,
or other services — is an individual with unique
health care needs. And we know that, as the
nation’s leading health benefits company, we can
take a lead role in making health care better.
In my letter last year, I introduced our comprehensive
strategy to transform health care. As part of that
strategy, we identified six aspirations for the future
health care system, and those aspirations provide
the framework for this report. What you can see in
this report is that we have moved beyond aspiration
to action, with initiatives well under way to achieve
each of these goals. What you should also know
is that we are tracking our progress with specific
measures and annual targets — we are that
committed to achieving our vision for a vastly
improved health care system.
2006 performance highlights
Our dedication to making WellPoint the most
trusted choice for consumers and the leader in
affordable quality care produced very good results
in 2006 for customers and shareholders.
We achieved continued strong growth in our
Anthem National Accounts business, which serves
large, multi-state employers. We successfully
introduced Medicare Part D products, reaching
1.6 million members by year-end. We also added
to our leadership position in Medicaid managed
care services, winning five new state contracts
covering 500,000 people.
Earnings per share were $4.82 in 2006, a
22 percent increase over 2005. We also continued
to make significant progress in reducing adminis-
trative costs as a percentage of revenue while
improving service to our customers.
Innovative choices for health care consumers
As you will read in the pages that follow, in 2006
we also launched innovative products and services
that will help shape the future of health care. We
are the first health benefits company to roll out an
integrated portfolio of consumer-driven health plans
(or CDHPs) across the country in all segments of
the market, from individuals to large employers.
Consumers want to take a more active role in
their health care, and we’re working to empower
consumers in all of our products — not just our
CDHP offerings. That includes providing information
that’s understandable and useful to consumers
about the cost and quality of their health care
options. For example, we launched a comprehensive
hospital cost comparison program in Dayton, Ohio.
Our members can compare total costs, including
physicians’ fees, and quality measures for nearly
40 different procedures at 10 area hospitals.
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