Elevance Health's Carelon arm rolled out a post-acute care management program in Medicare earlier this year, and the insurer has plans to take the initiative even wider, executives said Wednesday.
CEO Gail Boudreaux said on the company's earnings call that the program "is well underway and will contribute meaningfully to growth in 2023."
Pete Haytaian, president of Carelon, said on the call that his team sees durable medical equipment and social health factors as key areas where the post-acute care program can drive outcomes in the future. The goal, he said, is to ensure that patients are using the appropriate levels of care, including to the home whenever possible.
"What we’re trying to really do here is create a differentiated experience for post-acute providers," he said.
The post-acute care program is one example of Elevance Health's efforts to integrate the offerings available at Carelon into its health plan business, finding ways to cross-sell Carelon's services into its existing and new commercial customer base.
Haytaian said that the focus for now is in areas where the commercial plan businesses have traction already.
"We’re very interested in niche opportunities where our commercial business has a lot of strength," he said.
Elevance Health raked in $2 billion in profit for the first quarter of 2023, up 11% year over year, according to the company's earnings report released Wednesday.
Revenue was also up by double digits, according to the report, growing by 10.5% to $39.6 billion. The insurer reported $1.8 billion in profit and $35.8 billion in revenue for the first quarter of 2022.
Both of these figures surpassed Wall Street's expectations, according to analysts at Zacks Investment Research.
“Elevance Health is off to a strong start in 2023, driven by our continued focus on whole health and advancing health beyond healthcare,” said Boudreaux in the release. “Through our diverse and expanding offering of products and solutions, and our alignment with high-performing, value-based care providers, we continue to meet the needs of consumers, customers and the communities we serve, advancing our strategy of becoming a lifetime, trusted health partner.”
Elevance, formerly Anthem, has jockeyed with UnitedHealthcare over the past several quarters to be the largest insurer in the country by membership, and the company beat out its rival in the first quarter with 48.1 million members. UnitedHealthcare reported 47.6 million members in the U.S., though its total global membership is 52.9 million.
Elevance Health said it added 1.3 million members compared to the first quarter of 2022, driven by growth in Medicaid, Medicare Advantage and the individual marketplaces. However, it did see some attrition in its risk-based employer business, according to the earnings report.
The company has put a focus on growing out its Carelon business, which includes a slew of healthcare services businesses such as its pharmacy benefit manager, data analytics and more. Operating revenue at Carelon was up 17.7% from the first quarter of 2022, according to the report, reaching $11.3 billion.
Thanks to its performance in the first quarter, Elevance said it is boosting its guidance for the year to at least $32.70 in earnings per share.