Company: ELV
Filing Date: 2025-02-20
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001156039-25-000010
Chunk: 13

Company: Elevance Health, Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-02-20
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1
Chunk 13
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 also stabilize premiums based upon claims experience.

Our pharmacy services pricing through CarelonRx is presented to market via discounts off the average wholesale price for drugs dispensed through the retail, mail and specialty channels as well as through rebate projections. We utilize group-specific script data, formulary, network and clinical care program selection combined with administrative expense, risk and profit guidance to set market competitive pricing discounts and rebate projections. Pharmacy services pricing guidelines guide the underwriting process and undergo an annual external review process to ensure market competitiveness.

Networks and Provider Relations

Our relationships with physicians, hospitals and professionals that render healthcare services to our members are guided by local, regional and national standards for network development, reimbursement and contract methodologies. While following industry standards, we are simultaneously seeking to lead transformation efforts within our healthcare system, moving from a fragmented model premised on episodic intervention to one based on proactive, coordinated care built around the whole health needs of the patient.

 We establish “market-based” hospital reimbursement payments that we believe are fair, but aggressive, and among the most competitive in the market. We also seek to ensure that physicians in our network are paid in a timely manner at appropriate rates. In most instances, we deploy multi-year contracting strategies, including fixed case rates and fee schedules, to limit our exposure to medical cost inflation and to increase cost predictability. We maintain both broad and narrow provider networks to ensure member choice, based on both price and access needs, while implementing programs designed to improve the quality of care our members receive. Increasingly, we are supplementing our broad-based networks with smaller or more cost-conscious networks that are designed to be attractive to a more price-sensitive customer segment, such as Public Exchange customers.

 Our reimbursement strategies are tailored to each market and reflect the degree of consolidation and integration of physician groups and hospitals. Under a fee-for-service reimbursement methodology for physicians, fee schedules are developed at the state level based on an assessment of several factors and conditions, including the CMS resource-based relative value system (“RBRVS”), medical practice cost inflation and physician supply of each specialty. We utilize CMS RBRVS fee schedules as a reference point for fee schedule development and analysis. The RBRVS structure was developed, maintained, and updated by CMS and is used by the Medicare program and other major health plans. In addition, we have implemented and continue to expand physician incentive contracting, which ties physician payment levels to performance on efficiency, clinical and patient experience measures.

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 While we generally do not delegate full financial responsibility to our physician providers in