Highmark Blue Cross Reaps $440 Million Profit As Insurer Expands Into New Regions

Highmark Well being, dad or mum of Blue Cross and Blue Defend plans in 4 states, reported $440 million in income for 2021 as the corporate grew its medical health insurance and medical care supplier companies.

Highmark reported $22 billion in consolidated income and “an working achieve of $301 million, and extra income over bills of $440 million, excluding one-time beneficial properties,” the corporate mentioned in a report Tuesday morning.

2021 was one other yr of progress for what’s the nation’s fourth-largest Blue Cross and Blue Defend medical health insurance firm. Final yr, Highmark accomplished its “affiliation” settlement with HealthNow New York that introduced the medical health insurance firm’s whole enrollment to six.8 million members in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware and New York.

Highmark executives mentioned its companies had a “stable efficiency” throughout most companies, however the well being plans specifically confirmed “sturdy business and authorities enterprise outcomes.”

The monetary success is notable as firms traditionally centered on medical health insurance and paying for medical care additionally turn into healthcare suppliers. CVS Well being, the big operator of pharmacies and retail well being clinics, in 2018 purchased Aetna, the nation’s third largest well being insurer, and UnitedHealth Group, the nation’s largest well being insurer, owns Optum, a big nationwide supplier of pharmacy advantages, pressing care and therapy in physician practices.

Highmark in 2013 acquired the large Allegheny well being system, which operates eight hospitals in Pennsylvania. Allegheny Well being Community reported $154 million in earnings by December 31, which Highmark mentioned was “an enchancment of greater than $70 million in comparison with 2020 efficiency, as sufferers returned to hospitals and doctor workplaces searching for care.”

“As we shift from a COVID-19 pandemic to an endemic atmosphere, we’re trying ahead and constructing for the long run,” Highmark Well being president and chief government David Holmberg mentioned.