The Biggest Health Care Companies In The Fortune 500

The pharmaceutical distributor and health care IT company tops the list of biggest U.S. health care companies. It brought in revenues of $181.2 billion last year, jumping up six spots in the Fortune 500 rankings to No. 5.

The largest U.S. health insurer has had a rough experience with Obamacare: It now plans to exit the Affordable Care Act marketplaces in 26 states due to mounting losses. That hasn't hurt its growth, however. UnitedHealth brought in revenues of $157.1 billion last year, up 20.4% from the year before, moving it up eight spots on the Fortune 500 to No. 6.

AmerisourceBergen is the second-largest distributor of pharmaceuticals in the U.S., after McKesson, and it had a good year in 2015 thanks to generic drug price inflation that helped boost sales. The company posted revenues of $136 billion, up 13.7% from 2014, and climbed four spots on the Fortune 500 to No. 12.

Much like AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health also benefited from the recent generic drug price gains. The drug wholesaler brought in revenues of $102.5 billion and jumped five spots on the Fortune 500 to No. 21.

Express Scripts is the largest pharmacy benefit manager in the U.S., processing some 1.5 billion claims every year. It once again claimed the No. 22 spot on the Fortune 500 with revenues of $101.8 billion.

Anthem is the second biggest U.S. health insurer, trailing UnitedHealth. It brought in $79.2 billion worth of sales last year, helping the company climb five rungs up the Fortune 500 to No. 33.

Johnson & Johnson may be best known for its trusted consumer brands like Johnson's Baby and Band-Aids, but the company also develops and sells medical devices and prescription drugs. The company faced a tumultuous year after a steep drop in sales of its hepatitis C drug, Olysio, and a costly court ruling against the company over claims that its talcum powder causes ovarian cancer. Its revenues dropped 5.7% last year to $70.1 billion. That pushed it down two spots on the Fortune 500 to No. 39.

The health insurer has had a busy year. The company announced an agreement last July to buy rival Humana for $34 billion. It also boosted also boosting its sales by 4% to $60.3 billion. That helped boost its Fortune 500 placement by three spots to No. 46.

Humana, soon to be merged into Aetna if the deal officially closes, boosted its sales by almost 12% last year, hitting $54.3 billion. That pushed it up six spots on the Fortune 500 to No. 52, moving it ahead of Pfizer on the list of biggest health care companies.

Due to increased generic competition for some of its high-selling drugs like Celebrex, Pfizer faced a difficult year in 2015. The only pharmaceutical giant among the 10 biggest health care companies saw sales decline 1.5% to $48.9 billion. Despite the revenue drop, the company jumped a spot up on the Fortune 500 to No. 55.