IBX reported a $423 million net loss for 2025, its second consecutive annual loss

Independence Blue Cross had a $423 million net loss last year, compared to a $239 million loss the year before, as difficult financial conditions persisted throughout the healthcare industry, the Philadelphia company reported Thursday.

Strong demand for healthcare services following the pandemic, continued growth in the use of high-cost medicines, doctors’ use of AI in ways that increase bills, and what CEO Kelly Munson called “unreasonable reimbursement demands” from some healthcare providers following acquisitions were among the challenges she highlighted.

“We saw a lot of cost pressure, but at the same time, the actions that we took and the way that we responded has reinforced my confidence in our broader organization,” Munson said.

The financial report for Independence Health Group, which includes IBX, the Medicaid insurer AmeriHealth Caritas, and other businesses, showed that total revenue increased to $33.6 billion from $32 billion in 2024.

The company employed more than 14,000 people last year.

Higher Medicaid rates, growth in New Jersey, and strong retention of employers who buy insurance from IBX were big factors in the 13% revenue increase.

IBX lost some customers to Highmark when that Pittsburgh Blue Cross Blue Shield company started selling insurance in Southeastern Pennsylvania in 2024, but about 60% of those customers have come back, IBX’s chief financial officer, Juan Lopez, said.

Revenue from managing benefits for employers who directly pay the cost of employee health coverage rather than by paying insurance premiums fell by $116 million to $794 million. Comcast Corp.’s decision to use a different benefit administrator outside the Philadelphia region accounted for a significant chunk of that decline.

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AmeriHealth Caritas, which in recent years has accounted for as much as three-quarters of Independence Health Group’s revenue, contributed substantially to the overall loss in 2024, but last year the Medicaid division returned to profitability.

Lopez provided some details on pharmaceutical trends.

Effective last year, IBX stopped covering GLP-1s when they are prescribed strictly for weight loss. Even so, the use of GLP-1s increased 20% for people with diabetes in employer-based and Medicaid plans, “despite no increase in that disease prevalence,” Lopez said.

The company had $63 million in additional expenses from two high-cost drugs, Dupixent and Skyrizi, Lopez said. Dupixent is used to treat eczema and asthma. Skyrizi is for plaque psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, two autoimmune disorders.

While IBX’s net loss ballooned in 2025, its operating loss was flat at around $580 million, thanks in part to administrative expense growth being kept in check. The company trimmed 750 jobs, including 476 people who took a buyout. More than 50% of the people who took buyouts have been replaced with lower-paid workers, Lopez said.

Munson and Lopez are optimistic that the completion of a costly three-year transition to a new software platform will generate 3% to 5% in administrative cost savings. In addition to the cost of building the software and implementing it, IBX had the additional challenge last year of running on two systems.

“That meaningfully pressured results in 2025, but that investment is now behind us, and we’re beginning to realize the benefits,” Lopez said.