Anthem, Inc. to Acquire Aspire Health | Business Wire

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.

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