Elevance Health will remove most of its Anthem Medicare Advantage plans from online broker platforms.
According to a message sent to brokers, Anthem said most of its standard Medicare Advantage plans will be removed from online broker platforms May 1. Brokers can continue to enroll members in these plans using paper enrollment kits.
“To continue to balance stability and growth, we’ve made the decision to focus exclusively on D-SNP enrollments for remaining plan year 2025 effective sales,” the company wrote in its message to brokers.
The company’s dual-eligible special needs plans for members eligible for Medicaid and Medicare will continue to be accessible on online quoting and enrollment platforms.
In an April 25 statement, Jessica Brooks-Woods, CEO of the National Associations of Benefits and Insurance Professionals said the decision “directly harms Medicare beneficiaries by limiting their access to essential healthcare options and support.”
“By removing digital tools and shifting to manual processes, Elevance Health is making it harder for seniors to make informed decisions,” Ms. Brooks-Woods said. “And these changes eliminate the trusted guidance seniors rely on, creating unnecessary barriers at a time when making informed healthcare decisions is most critical for them.”
In the statement, the National Association of Benefits and Insurance Professionals, which represents insurance brokers, called on CMS to limit MA plans’ abilities to make changes that “reduce transparency” to plans after plan information is published on Oct. 1 each year.
As of March 31, Elevance Health had 2.3 million Medicare Advantage members, up around 12% from the same time period in 2024.
On its first-quarter earnings call, Elevance Health CEO Gail Boudreaux said Medicare Advantage costs were elevated, but in line with the company’s expectations.
“We feel that we’ve accounted for that, and feel, quite frankly, that we’re going to continue to monitor the situation but feel comfortable with the range and direction of our guidance,” Ms. Boudreaux said on April 22.
Becker’s has reached out to Elevance Health for comment and will update this article if more information becomes available.
