A year after it significantly reducing its footprint in Obamacare markets, Anthem posted 29% year-over-year profit growth in the third quarter, reaching $960 million.
The insurer lost 753,000 members compared to the same quarter last year after exiting individual exchanges in five states and reducing its footprint in another four. That was partially offset by membership growth in the Medicare market, according to Anthem's third-quarter financial filing.
The government market continues to be the company’s strongest growth driver accounting for $13.8 billion in revenue in the third quarter, up from $12 billion last year.
On Wednesday’s earnings call, CEO Gail Boudreaux emphasized the company’s continued investment in digital capabilities, including a new artificial intelligence team led by former Google engineer Udi Manber. She said Anthem is building an AI team to work in the "clinical predictive space" to help clients quickly identify individuals with complex conditions.
"We think there’s a lot of potential in that space because of the populations we serve both in commercial and the government business, and that’s an area of long-term growth," Boudreaux said.
RELATED: Anthem expands $500M deal with IBM aimed at automation
In August, Anthem announced a partnership with doc.ai, a blockchain-based AI platform that the insurer will use to detect allergy patterns. The company also expanded a $500 million deal with IBM to build AI into its back-end processes.
Boudreaux also pointed to Anthem Engage, a suite of digital consumer engagement tools launched last year that has doubled its membership in 2017. Data shows 86% of Engage users chose a lower cost setting generating an average of $200 in savings per episode of care.
Anthem also expects to grow Act Wise, an online portal for consumer-directed health plans to manage medical and wellbeing benefits for employers. Boudreaux said the platform will have an estimated 800,000 subscribers and 9,000 employers by the end of next year.
Finally, Anthem’s new pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) IngenioRx is still on pace to launch at the beginning of 2020 with an estimated annual savings of $4 billion a year. Boudreaux said “about 80%” of that savings would flow through to members in the form of more affordable plans, while “at least 20%” would be delivered back to shareholders.