Company: WellPoint

Founder: Company formed because of merger

Industry: Health Care Plans

History:

On November 30, 2004 Anthem, Inc. and WellPoint Health Networks Inc. merged. The newly-formed company operated under the label “WellPoint.”

WellPoint Health Networks Inc. is the successor of Blue Cross of California, the first health benefit company of the state.

In the mid-80s, when the cost of medical care surged, the organization found itself mired with financial problems. Restructuring was made in the early months of 1989, and by 1991, Blue Cross profited $159.7 million.

WellPoint was founded in 1992 to be the operator of Blue Cross of California’s care enterprise. In 1993, WellPoint was spun-off by Blue Cross. Operating under the name WellPoint Health Networks Inc., it was then an independent publicly traded company. Three years later, Blue Cross of California, facing hurdles due to limited access to markets and uncertainty over policies and regulations that might have been imposed by the U.S. government, converted all its operations to a for-profit status and made WellPoint Health Networks Inc. as its parent organization.

Anthem, Inc., the other component company, arose from two Indianapolis-based mutual insurance corporations that were formed in 1944 and 1946. The two corporate entities — Blue Shield of Indiana and Blue Cross of Indiana — were formed to offer health insurance to the people living in the state. These two eventually fused and formed Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Indiana. In 2001, Anthem converted to a stockholder-owned corporation and immediately made a public offering of common stock.

In September 2005, in a $6.5 billion deal, WellPoint merged with the New York-based parent company of Empire BlueCross BlueShield, WellChoice, Inc.

Today, WellPoint is the largest member of the BlueCross BlueShield Association and has over 42,000 employees. It had $56.953 billion as revenue in 2006.

Leadership:

· Larry C. Glasscock – Chairman

· Mark L. Boxer – EVP; President and CEO Operations, Technology and Government Services Bursiness Unit

· Angela F. Braly – President, CEO, and Director