Elevance Health Reflects On The Changed Role of Health Plans

As 2025 draws to a close, Elevance Health highlights how today’s health plans are evolving to better support their members in a broader range of situations that affect health, including cancer diagnoses, mental health crises, and unexpected health concerns during pregnancy. From employer-sponsored health insurance to government-sponsored programs, health plans are evolving to better support their members in a broader range of situations that affect health. In partnership with care providers, health plans strive to simplify the healthcare experience, personalize care, improve quality, and work with community organizations to improve health outcomes.

“It’s highly personal, our health,” said Dr. Shantanu Agrawal, chief health officer for Elevance Health. Those personal aspects weren’t typically addressed by the healthcare system in the past. “We have the ability to understand and address health on a more individual level, and we can support members in a way that works best for them.”

Taking a Broader View of Health

The traditional approach to healthcare has revolved around the medical and physical aspects of health. Measurements such as weight and blood pressure shaped healthcare decisions. Health plans primarily focused on helping people access and pay for their healthcare, and advocated for affordability, quality and safety. Today’s health plans have built upon that important foundation to include even better preventive care support, assistance in managing chronic disease, and integrating behavioral health.

“Decades of data demonstrate that helping people get and stay healthy takes more than focusing on physical factors alone,” Agrawal said. “Physical health influences behavioral health, and vice versa. Social factors have an impact on physical and behavioral health too. They should all be considered together, and this is why we need a whole-health approach.”

Elevance Health and its affiliated health plans take a broader view of health. One example of this approach is the recently expanded access to doula care. Research shows that women who receive doula care services, which include education, coaching and emotional support, experience better health outcomes than women who do not use doula care services. A certified doula can help women communicate with their doctors or midwives; they can ease the stress and physical demands of pregnancy, labor and delivery; and they help new parents ease into what is a significant life transition.