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Elevance’s Louisiana Purchase Could Portend More Blue Cross Blue Shield Consolidation

  • Jan 27
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    Jan 27, 2023

    Elevance Health, Inc. on Jan. 23 announced a deal to acquire Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana, breaking what one analyst called a nearly two-decade “ice age” in which no major consolidation among Blues took place. Experts say it’s unclear whether the tie-up is a harbinger of a flurry of similar dealmaking, but they suggest that the time may be right to see additional mergers and acquisitions (M&A) among Blues affiliates. 

    “It has been a long drought” since Blues plans conducted major M&A, observes Ashraf Shehata, national sector lead for health care and life sciences at KPMG. And during that time, the country’s largest health plans have gotten larger and more diversified. “So I think…it’s probably time for the industry, especially on the Blue side, to consolidate a bit more,” Shehata tells AIS Health, a division of MMIT.  

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    • Leslie Small

    Leslie has been working in journalism since 2009 and reporting on the health care industry since 2014. She has covered the many ups and downs of the Affordable Care Act exchanges, the failed health insurer mega-mergers, and hundreds of other storylines spanning subjects such as Medicaid managed care, Medicare Advantage, employer-sponsored insurance, and prescription drug coverage. As the managing editor of Health Plan Weekly and Radar on Drug Benefits, she writes and edits for both publications while overseeing a small team of reporters who also focus on the managed care sector. Before joining AIS Health, she was a senior editor for the e-newsletter Fierce Health Payer, and she started her career as a copy editor at multiple local newspapers. She graduated with a dual degree in journalism and political science from Penn State University.

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Reporter, Radar on Medicare Advantage and Spotlight on Market Access

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