Anthem Blue Cross 2009 Annual Report Download - page 12

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10 WELLPOINT, INC.10 WELLPOINT, INC.
The recession had an impact on our business, as
it did on every business in America. At WellPoint,
we saw a drop in commercial enrollment, while
medical costs continued to rise. However, we did
see improved results in our consumer business,
and as a result of a number of initiatives, including
controlling our administrative costs and effectively
implementing our capital management initiatives,
we were able to increase our earnings per share.
We also had a very smooth closing to our sale of
the pharmacy benefits manager, NextRx, to Express
Scripts Inc., which included the negotiation of a
long-term agreement to better serve our members.
In fact, I am proud that we continue to find innova-
tive ways to increase the value of our products and
services for our customers. I’m grateful to our
WellPoint associates across the country who helped
our company manage through this difficult time and
who work to put the customer first.
Though the number of Americans who are
out of work remains very high, we expect to see
improvement in employment toward the end of
this year. Whether it’s the local depth in our
markets, the quality of our brand, or our broad
networks of providers, we believe WellPoint is
the best-positioned health benefits company in
the country. We should benefit as the economy
improves because we remain very attractive to
both employer groups and individual customers.
But we’re not going to stand still as if we thought
we couldn’t be a better company. We believe we
can build a better WellPoint. So we’re making
key investments in our business to offer the best
possible health care benefit products and services
to our customers and members.
As you can see throughout this report, we’re
focused on making health benefits more affordable,
improving access to care, and simplifying interac-
tions with the delivery system. We believe that we
have to favorably impact the value equation in health
care while improving the experience of members,
doctors, and employers. We’re very excited about
some of the efforts already underway at WellPoint,
as well as the many more to come.