nyse antm s & p 500 component industry managed health care founded anthem insurance and wellpoint health networks merger in 2004 headquarters indianapolis indiana united states key people joseph r. swedish ceo products blue cross blue shield revenue us 61.7 billion fy 2012 1 net income us 2.66 billion fy 2012 1 total assets us 58.96 billion fy 2012 2 total equity us 23.80 billion fy 2012 2 number of employees 37 000 website www.antheminc.com company headquarters on monument circle in indianapolis anthem inc. is an american health insurance company founded in the 1940s prior to 2014 known as wellpoint inc. it is the largest for profit managed health care company in the blue cross and blue shield association . it was formed when anthem insurance company acquired wellpoint health networks inc. with the combined company adopting the name wellpoint inc. ; trading on the nyse for the combined company began under the wlp symbol on december 1 2004 . on december 3 2014 wellpoint changed its corporate name to anthem inc and its nyse ticker changed from wlp to antm . 3 4 contents 1 history 1.1 anthem insurance company 2 timeline 2.1 anthem associated insurance 2.2 the associated group 2.3 anthem blue cross 2.4 anthem insurance company 2.5 blue cross of california 2.6 wellpoint health networks 2.7 wellpoint inc. 2.8 anthem name revived 3 quality of care 4 controversies 4.1 giving for uninsured 4.2 policy cancellations 4.3 opposition to health care reform 4.4 2009 premium increase in maine 4.5 2010 premium increase 4.6 reclassifying expenses 4.7 2009 10 security breach 4.8 denying benefits 4.9 2015 medical data breach 5 references 6 further reading 7 external links history edit anthem insurance company edit anthem insurance company grew out of two indianapolis indiana based mutual insurance companies mutual hospital insurance inc. and mutual medical insurance inc. formed in 1944 and 1946 . 5 the companies grew significantly controlling 80 % of the medical insurance market in indiana by the 1970s . in 1972 they came together to create a joint operating agreement 6 and merged in 1985 as parent company associated insurance companies inc to form blue cross and blue shield of indiana . 6 7 8 in 1986 associated insurance companies changed its name to the associated group tag to reflect its expanded focus 7 and began heavily expanding outside indiana acquiring numerous insurance companies and creating new subsidiaries throughout the late 1980s through the mid 1990s . formerly anthem inc. was an insurance company which began in the 1980s as a spin off of the group insurance operations of american general insurance . anthem blue cross and blue shield was created as part of the merger of the associated group with community mutual insurance co. of cincinnati . 9 from its move to a publicly traded company in 2001 until its final merger in 2004 it merged the blue cross blue shield organizations of several states to achieve economy of scale converting them in the process from non profit to for profit status . in late 2004 anthem and wellpoint merged with the combined company taking the wellpoint name . that anthem no longer exists as a company but the anthem blue cross and blue shield brand name is used by wellpoint in 11 states . in october 2001 anthem demutualized and conducted an initial public offering of common stock . wellpoint inc. formerly anthem inc. was formed when wellpoint health networks inc. and anthem inc. merged in 2004 to become the nation s leading health benefits company . wellpoint health network inc. s predecessor was blue cross of california which was founded in 1982 with the consolidation of blue cross of northern california established in 1936 and blue cross of southern california established in 1937 . wellpoint was formed in 1992 to operate blue cross of california s managed care business . in 1993 blue cross of california spun off its managed care business into a separate publicly traded entity wellpoint health networks inc. in 1996 blue cross of california completed the conversion of all its business to for profit status resulting in a restructuring that designated wellpoint health networks inc. as the parent organization . anthem and wellpoint achieved a portion of this growth through mergers and acquisitions . wellpoint inc. was formed in november 2004 following a merger of anthem and wellpoint health networks inc. 5 the merger was structured as anthem acquiring wellpoint health networks and rebranding itself wellpoint inc. when the deal was originally announced in october 2003 the merger was set at 16.5 billion . 10 the fair market value of the merger when completed in december 2004 was approximately 20.8 billion . 10 at the time of the merger s completion wellpoint was the largest american insurer . 10 in december 2014 wellpoint changed its corporate name to anthem inc. . timeline edit anthem associated insurance edit 1940 s anthem began in indianapolis indiana as mutual hospital insurance inc. and mutual medical insurance inc. 5 the companies grew significantly controlling 80 % of the medical insurance market in indiana by the 1970s . 5 1972 the two firms now known as blue cross of indiana and blue shield of indiana entered into a joint operating agreement . 6 1980 s anthem inc. began as an insurance company as a spin off of the group insurance operations of american general insurance . 9 1985 the two merged into associated insurance companies inc a holding company . 7 8 but usage of the name anthem persisted . 1986 associated insurance companies began expanding outside of indiana acquiring numerous insurance companies and creating new subsidiaries . 5 7 1986 associated insurance companies changed its name to the associated group to coincide with its expanded focus . 7 associated insurance s acquisitions included anthem health inc. a national company offering group life and health insurance ; raffensperger hughes & co. inc. indiana s largest investment bank ; and the shelby insurance co. a property and casualty insurance business . 5 the associated group edit 1989 the associated group founded acordia brokerage that sold and serviced insurance and employee benefit programs . 5 11 1992 the associated group took acordia . 6 1993 acordia acquired american business insurance for 130 million and the federal kemper insurance company for 100 million . 5 1993 the associated group bought southeastern mutual insurance company the operator of blue cross and blue shield of kentucky . 5 12 the deal was the first cross state merger of major blues plans in america . 5 by the end of 1993 associated insurance posted annual profits of 65.4 million with 3.4 billion in revenue . 5 1995 the associated group acquired community mutual insurance a provider of blue cross and blue shield insurance plans in ohio with over 1.9 million policy holders then set up anthem blue cross and blue shield . 5 8 1995 the associated group began offering its blue cross blue shield products to consumers under the anthem name . 1996 the associated group changed its name to anthem insurance company . 9 anthem blue cross edit anthem blue cross in full anthem blue cross and blue shield is a subsidiary of insurance giant anthem inc. . anthem has about 800 000 customers and has more individual policyholders in california than any other insurer . it is an independent licensee of the blue cross blue shield association based in thousand oaks california . 13 wellpoint had a net income of 2.49 billion in 2008 and 4.7 billion in 2009 . 14 leslie margolin became anthem blue cross s company president in january 2008 and also was chief executive officer of the firm s life and health affiliate . joseph swedish is currently chief executive officer of the company . 15 anthem insurance company edit 1996 anthem began to exclusively focus on healthcare benefits . 5 anthem later added 850 000 policy holders with its purchase of blue cross and blue shield companies in new hampshire colorado connecticut maine and nevada . 5 1997 anthem acquires blue cross and blue shield of connecticut . 1997 anthem group sold acordia to a group of private investors . 11 1999 anthem acquires blue cross and blue shield of new hampshire and blue cross and blue shield of colorado and nevada . 1999 anthem group s revenue had grown to 6.3 billion . among its customer base were 2.4 million ppo enrollees and 964 000 with hmos . 5 2000 anthem acquires blue cross blue shield of maine . october 2001 anthem converted from a mutual insurance company to a publicly held stock company which made it the 4th largest public managed health care company in america . 5 2002 anthem acquires trigon healthcare of virginia a blue cross and blue shield plan in virginia the largest insurer in virginia for 4.04 billion . associated insurance reached 11.9 million members blue cross of california edit blue cross of california was wellpoint health network inc. s predecessor 1982 blue cross of california was founded with the consolidation of blue cross of northern california established in 1936 and blue cross of southern california established in 1937 . 1992 wellpoint was formed to operate blue cross of california s managed care business . 1993 blue cross of california spun off its managed care business into a separate publicly traded entity wellpoint health networks inc. 16 blue cross of california retained 80 % of the company and had nearly all of the company s voting shares . 17 january 1993 blue cross california became an independent for profit subsidiary with an ipo . 16 blue cross of california retained 80 % of the company and had nearly all of the company s voting shares . 17 1996 blue cross of california completed converting all its business to for profit status resulting in a restructuring that designated wellpoint health networks inc. as its parent organization . after this wellpoint health networks inc. began heavy expansion . wellpoint health networks edit april 1996 wellpoint completed its acquisition of massachusetts mutual life insurance company s group life and health insurance subsidiaries for approximately 380 million . 18 with the acquisition wellpoint had nearly 4 million policy holders which made it the second largest publicly held managed health company in the us . 5 wellpoint continued its expansion and acquired into 10 other states such as massachusetts new york new jersey and offer life disability and dental insurance to all its rosters . 5 march 1997 wellpoint acquired the group health and life businesses of john hancock mutual life insurance co. for 86.7 million . 19 with this acquisition wellpoint expanded its presence into michigan texas and the mid atlantic and gained a unit that concentrated on serving the needs of large employers . 5 2000 by then wellpoint s net income was 342.3 million with revenues of 9.23 billion . 5 2000 wellpoint acquires precisionrx a mail service pharmacy fulfillment center in texas . 2001 wellpoint acquired rush prudential health plans a chicago provider for 204 million . 20 march 2001 wellpoint acquired cerulean companies the parent company of blue cross blue shield of georgia . 5 2002 wellpoint acquired rightchoice managed care a missouri based company for 1.5 billion in 2002 . 5 wellpoint acquires healthlink in the mid west . 2002 wellpoint acquires methodistcare in houston texas . 5 2003 wellpoint acquires golden west dental and vision in camarillo california . 2003 wellpoint acquires cobalt corp. and its family of companies including blue cross and blue shield united of wisconsin . october 2003 anthem announced it would acquire wellpoint health networks for 16.5 billion . 10 wellpoint inc. edit november 2004 wellpoint inc. was formed by merging of anthem insurance company and wellpoint health networks inc. 5 the merger was structured as anthem acquiring wellpoint health networks and rebranding itself wellpoint inc. when the deal was originally announced in october 2003 the merger was set at 16.5 billion