Where others are crying failure and leaving the marketplace,Anthem has not only gained customers under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act(PPACA) and plans to stick with the program.

According to Forbes, although other companies claim not to havebeen so fortunate — UnitedHealth Group, forinstance, is dropping out of all but a few exchanges — Anthem seesopportunity beckoning. After a year of growth — not only wereits earnings better than expected, but it added 1 million newcustomers since the end of last year, 184,000 of whom wereObamacare enrollees — the company expects to do even better nextyear, particularly if its planned merger with Cigna gets the greenlight.

Anthem’s Blue Cross and Blue Shield brand is selling in 14states, and the company expects to remain in those markets nextyear. Joe Swedish, Anthem’s chairman, was quoted as saying in ananalyst conference call, “I think a sustainable model can be built… This remains a dynamic marketplace. Over time, we do believe weare well positioned for sustained growth.”