WellPoint Takes Up New Moniker: Anthem

“WellPoint Inc. (WLP), the second-largest health insurer in the U.S., plans to change its name to Anthem Inc., the brand under which it sells most of its coverage,” according to Bloomberg News. “WellPoint and other large health insurers find themselves increasingly marketing directly to consumers, as Obamacare requires most uninsured Americans to obtain coverage and employers thrust more responsibility for costs on their workers. The company sells plans in 14 of the health-care law’s new insurance exchanges, in most cases under its Anthem brand.” Read more.

WellPoint Sells Off 1-800-Contacts

WellPoint has completed sale of 1-800 Contacts to private equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners. The company already has finished the sale of glasses.com and its virtual try-on technology to Luxottica. Read more.

WellPoint to Drop 1-800 Contacts and to Pick Up Assets from Glasses.com

WellPoint (WLP) signed an agreement to sell its online contact lens retail subsidiary 1-800 Contacts to private equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners, according to a press release on Yahoo!Finance. Additionally, the company--with Luxottica--has entered into an asset-purchase agreement for glasses.com and its virtual try-on technology. Each agreement is subject to customary closing conditions and each transaction should close by March's end. Read more.

SoloHealth and WellPoint Hook Up

SoloHealth has hooked up with the health-benefits company WellPoint, Inc. The agreement, which includes an undisclosed financial investment, reportedly will give consumers convenient access to information about their via a SoloHealth kiosk, called SoloHealth Station recently approved by the FDA. The device is placed placed in high-traffic retail locations, corporate campuses, and hospitals. It can provide vision screening, blood pressure readings, body-mass index report free of charge. Then it gives the patient names of local health care professionals.It will even have advertisers and brand products featured. Read more. 

WellPoint Finalizes 1-800 Contacts Buy Out

WellPoint, Inc., finalized its acquisition of 1-800 CONTACTS, Inc., reportedly the largest direct-to-consumer retailer of contact lenses in the U.S. The company serves approximately 3.3 million customers.Read more.

WellPoint Wants to Use 1-800 Contacts as a Starting Point

"WellPoint, [the parent of Anthem] and based in Indianapolis, said Monday that the eyewear company will help diversify its revenue sources with a high-margin business," reports Business Week. "The insurer typically generates an after-tax profit margin of around 4 percent. 1-800 Contacts can generate margins in the double-digit range, said Ken Goulet, WellPoint's president of commercial and specialty companies....1-800 Contacts currently has about 3.3 million customers. WellPoint Chairwoman and CEO Angela Braly said in a statement that the business comes with a significant growth opportunity because there are more than 38 million people wearing eye contact lenses and more than 140 million people wearing eye glasses in the United States." Read more.

WellPoint to Buy 1-800-Contacts

"Health insurer WellPoint Inc. plans to buy contact-lens and eyewear retailer 1-800 Contacts Inc for a transaction value close to $900 million, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing a person familiar with the matter," notes MSNBC. "The deal will close in the third quarter and will start adding to the company's per-share earnings in 2014, the Journal said in its report. The deal will be financed with cash on hand, the report said." Read more.