Thursday, May 24, 2018

Anthem To Acquire Aspire Health


INDIANAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Anthem, Inc. (NYSE:ANTM) today announced that the company has entered into an agreement to acquire Aspire Health, the nation’s largest non-hospice, community-based palliative care provider.
“Anthem is focused on enhancing our ability to offer innovative, integrated clinical care models that can improve the quality of healthcare and deliver better outcomes,” said Gail K. Boudreaux, President and CEO, Anthem. “Aspire Health shares our perspective on the increasingly important role of integrated care and has built a unique model that provides palliative care and support services for patients and their families. With the addition of Aspire Health to Anthem’s other clinical care assets such as CareMore Health and AIM, we will be able to offer our consumers, customers, and other health plan and provider partners a broader array of programs and services that meet their diverse needs and drive future growth opportunities for our company.”
Aspire currently provides services under contracts with more than 20 health plans to consumers in 25 states. The company uses proprietary predictive clinical and claims-based patient algorithms to identify patients with a serious illness who may benefit from an extra layer of support. Once patients are identified, Aspire assigns a comprehensive care team that includes physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, social workers and chaplains. The team works in an integrated approach to address symptom management, patient-family communication, advance care planning and to coordinate care with other medical professionals including primary care, specialty care and in-home care providers. The company also offers 24-7 support to patients, including nurse practitioner home visits any time if necessary.
Aspire was founded in 2013 by former U.S. Senator and physician William Frist and Brad Smith, who serves as Chief Executive Officer of the company.
“Several studies have repeatedly demonstrated how advanced illness programs can provide high patient and family satisfaction, reduce hospitalization, and decrease costs,” said Smith. “As part of Anthem, we believe we will be able to further scale our model and positively impact the lives of even more consumers and families, making home-based advanced illness care available to patients who need it.”
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter of 2018 and is subject to standard closing conditions and customary approvals required under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act. The transaction is expected to be neutral to earnings in 2018 and accretive to earnings in 2019.
About Anthem, Inc.
Anthem is working to transform health care with trusted and caring solutions. Our health plan companies deliver quality products and services that give their members access to the care they need. With over 74 million people served by its affiliated companies, including nearly 40 million within its family of health plans, Anthem is one of the nation’s leading health benefits companies. For more information about Anthem’s family of companies, please visit www.antheminc.com/companies.
Forward-Looking Statements
This document contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements reflect our views about future events and financial performance and are generally not historical facts. Words such as “expect,” “feel,” “believe,” “will,” “may,” “should,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “estimate,” “project,” “forecast,” “plan” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements include, but are not limited to: financial projections and estimates and their underlying assumptions; statements regarding plans, objectives and expectations with respect to future operations, products and services; and statements regarding future performance. Such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and generally beyond our control, that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied or projected by, the forward-looking statements. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements that speak only as of the date hereof. You are also urged to carefully review and consider the various risks and other disclosures discussed in our reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time, which attempt to advise interested parties of the factors that affect our business. Except to the extent otherwise required by federal securities laws, we do not undertake any obligation to republish revised forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the impact of federal and state regulation, including ongoing changes in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, as amended, or collectively the ACA; trends in healthcare costs and utilization rates; our ability to contract with providers on cost-effective and competitive terms; our ability to secure sufficient premium rates including regulatory approval for and implementation of such rates; reduced enrollment; risks and uncertainties regarding Medicare and Medicaid programs, including those related to non-compliance with the complex regulations imposed thereon, our ability to maintain and achieve improvement in Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, Star ratings and other quality scores and funding risks with respect to revenue received from participation therein; competitive pressures, including competitor pricing, which could affect our ability to maintain or increase our market share; a negative change in our healthcare product mix; our ability to adapt to changes in the industry and develop and implement strategic growth opportunities; costs and other liabilities associated with litigation, government investigations, audits or reviews; the ultimate outcome of litigation between Cigna Corporation, or Cigna, and us related to the merger agreement between the parties, including our claim for damages against Cigna, Cigna’s claim for payment of a termination fee and other damages against us, and the potential for such litigation to cause us to incur substantial costs, materially distract management and negatively impact our reputation and financial positions; medical malpractice or professional liability claims or other risks related to healthcare services provided by our subsidiaries; possible restrictions in the payment of dividends by our subsidiaries and increases in required minimum levels of capital; the potential negative effect from our substantial amount of outstanding indebtedness; a downgrade in our financial strength ratings; the effects of any negative publicity related to the health benefits industry in general or us in particular; unauthorized disclosure of member or employee sensitive or confidential information, including the impact and outcome of any investigations, inquiries, claims and litigation related thereto; failure to effectively maintain and modernize our information systems; non-compliance by any party with the Express Scripts, Inc. pharmacy benefit management services agreement, which could result in financial penalties, our inability to meet customer demands, and sanctions imposed by governmental entities, including CMS; state guaranty fund assessments for insolvent insurers; events that may negatively affect our licenses with the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association; regional concentrations of our business and future public health epidemics and catastrophes; general risks associated with mergers, acquisitions and strategic alliances; our ability to repurchase shares of our common stock and pay dividends on our common stock due to the adequacy of our cash flow and earnings and other considerations; possible impairment of the value of our intangible assets if future results do not adequately support goodwill and other intangible assets; changes in economic and market conditions, as well as regulations that may negatively affect our liquidity and investment portfolios; changes in U.S. tax laws; intense competition to attract and retain employees; various laws and provisions in our governing documents that may prevent or discourage takeovers and business combinations; and general economic downturns.
Anthem, Inc.
Investor Relations
Chris Rigg, 317-488-6887
Chris.rigg@anthem.com
or
Media
Jill Becher, 414-234-1573
jill.becher@anthem.com
Source: Anthem, Inc.

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