July 17 (Reuters) - Elevance lowered its annual

profit forecast on Thursday as it expects elevated medical costs

in its government-backed plans to persist.

The company forecast an annual profit of about $30 per

share, compared with $34.15 to $34.85 per share it previously

expected.

Analysts on average were expecting $34.23 per share,

according to data compiled by LSEG.

(Reporting by Sneha S K and Sriparna Roy in Bengaluru; Editing

by Sriraj Kalluvila)