AM Best affirms and then withdraws the credit ratings of WellPoint Insurance Services, Inc., the Hawaii-domiciled captive of Elevance Health, at the company's request. The rating agency affirms the captive's Financial Strength Rating of 'A- (Excellent)' and its Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of 'a- (Excellent)', both with a 'stable' outlook, before withdrawing them as the company has requested to no longer participate in AM Best's interactive rating process. The ratings reflect WellPoint Insurance Services' balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as adequate, as well as its adequate operating performance, limited business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management. AM Best says the affirmation reflects continued capital and surplus growth through year-end 2025 and into early 2026. The captive's risk-adjusted capitalisation, as measured by Best's Capital Adequacy Ratio, remains at the strongest level at year-end 2025, with near-term capital growth planned to come from positive earnings and no dividends to the parent company. The agency points to considerable financial flexibility through a parent supported by a commercial paper programme, parent company cash and a revolving credit facility. Elevance Health has more than sufficient financial strength to provide additional support to the captive if needed, and has demonstrated explicit and implicit support in past years. WellPoint Insurance Services was established close to two decades ago, primarily for formalised self-insurance and as an instrument of corporate risk management. Its importance to the parent has increased in recent years as the volume of business in both the core company and its cell has expanded, and it benefits from the parent's operational resources and expertise. Elevance Health has expanded the volume of errors and omissions coverage placed with the captive in recent years as the market for that line of business hardened considerably. The captive established a segregated cell five years ago to assume Federal Employee Program health care premium from Elevance Health affiliates, in order to optimise capital at statutory entities. AM Best notes that the cell structure provides a formal separation of that business from the rest of the captive's book and provides transparency for Hawaii's regulators.
