Many Hoosiers may hardly recognize WellPoint Inc. these days. The company's president and chief executive officer, Larry Glasscock, stood before a group of local business professionals Tuesday to "reintroduce" the Indianapolis-based health insurer and outline its strategy for the company.

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Glasscock, speaking to the Indianapolis Rotary Club, said the nation faces a critical challenge to care for an aging population as health-care costs climb and millions of Americans remain uninsured.

"We know that WellPoint must take a leadership role in every single one of these issues," Glasscock told those gathered at the Murat Shrine.

The company's strategy has been that bigger is better.
WellPoint, driven by a series of mergers since the early 1990s, has exploded from being the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Indiana into the nation's largest health benefits company.
WellPoint now has about 29 million members and operates Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in 13 states. It is hoping to add to that total with its pending $6.5 million acquisition of New York-based WellChoice, which would lift its total enrollment to 33 million.

The biggest jump in size came last year when the company, then known as Anthem Inc., paid $20.8 million for WellPoint Health Networks of California.

Glasscock said the company switched to the WellPoint name because it was better known on Wall Street than the Anthem moniker. But he added that it was important for the company to remain headquartered in Indiana, where it has about 3,600 employees.

"The reason we're headquartered in this state, let me be clear about that, is that this city and this state is a great place to do business," said Glasscock, who added that the community is key to hiring and retaining talented workers.

Investors have had much to cheer lately. WellPoint shares have gained about 90 percent in value over the past 52 weeks.

But the company also has found itself a frequent target for criticism from groups such as the American Medical Association, which says such mergers among health insurers tend to result in higher premiums for policy holders, fewer choices for consumers and lower reimbursements for doctors.

Glasscock cited several examples of how the company is trying to cut costs and bring health care to more people.

He said the company offers physicians technology free of charge for electronically filing claims. It costs WellPoint 14 cents to process an electronic claim compared with $2.50 for a traditional paper claim, Glasscock said, adding that the company processes 600 million medical and pharmacy claims a year.

WellPoint also is rolling out new insurance products, such as its Tonik product, now available in California and Colorado, designed for "young invincibles" who are ages 19 to 29 and often uninsured. Tonik's premiums run from about $64 to $123 a month

Source: Indystar.com