Company: ELV
Filing Date: 2025-02-20
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001156039-25-000010
Chunk: 59

Company: Elevance Health, Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-02-20
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1A
Chunk 59
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 and services, we operate in a highly competitive industry that is subject to significant changes from and competition due to legislative reform, business consolidations, new strategic alliances, new market entrants, aggressive marketing practices, technological advancements and changing market practices such as increasing usage of telehealth. We also must respond to pricing and other actions taken by existing competitors, suppliers and potentially disruptive new entrants in the Public Exchanges and in our other lines of business. These factors have produced and will continue to produce significant pressures on our profitability and membership. Furthermore, 

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decisions to buy our products and services are increasingly made or influenced by consumers, through means such as direct purchasing (for example, Medicare Advantage plans) and insurance exchanges that allow individual choice, or by large employers that may increasingly be able to contract directly with providers. Our success and future growth depend on our ability to compete effectively under these unique market pressures in the consumer-driven marketplace, and our ability to develop and deliver innovative and potentially disruptive products and services to satisfy evolving market demands.

In addition, the pharmacy services industry is highly competitive, and our pharmacy services business unit is subject to competition from national, regional and local pharmacy services providers, other insurers, health plans, large retail pharmacy chains, large retail stores, supermarkets, mail order and web pharmacies, discount cards and specialty pharmacies. Strong competition within the pharmacy services business has generated greater demand for lower product and service pricing and enhanced product and service offerings. Our inability to maintain positive trends, or to contract on favorable terms with CVS, wholesalers or pharmaceutical manufacturers for, among other things, rebates, discounts, administrative fees and inventory purchase prices, or a failure to identify and implement new ways to mitigate pricing pressures, could negatively impact our ability to attract or retain customers, negatively impact our margins and have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations. In addition, legislative reforms such as the regulation issued by HHS related to rebates and the 2021 Appropriations Act, which requires reporting of plan spending, the cost of plan pharmacy benefits, enrollee premiums and any manufacturer rebates received by the plan or issuer, may adversely affect our competitive position, cash flows, financial condition and results of operations.

In order to achieve our long-term financial targets, we need to not only grow our profitable medical membership, but also continue to profitably grow and diversify our sources of revenue and earnings, including through the increased sale of our pharmacy services, both integrated and external, other healthcare services and products, and specialty products, such as stop loss