Blue Shield of California has launched a new corporate structure and named a new CEO.
The nonprofit insurer created a new parent company, Ascendiun, to oversee its health plan and other companies, according to a Jan. 8 news release from Blue Shield of California.
Here are five things to know about the changes in the company's leadership:
- Lois Quam, who joined Blue Shield of California as president in 2024, will become CEO of the health plan, which has more than 6 million members.
- Paul Markovich, who has served as CEO of Blue Shield of California for more than a decade, will be president of Ascendiun.
- The new parent organization will oversee Blue Shield of California's health plans, its clinical services firm and a new healthcare services company, Stellarus. Mr. Markovich will serve as president of Stellarus on an interim basis. The company will focus on scaling Blue Shield of California's existing programs, with the goal of making these solutions available to other health plans in the future.
- Ms. Quam is the first woman to serve as CEO of Blue Shield of California. She was previously CEO of Pathfinder, a nonprofit global women's health organization. Ms. Quam also led global health initiatives in the State Department during the Obama administration.
- Blue Shield of California also named Susan Mullaney COO. She joined the company as executive vice president of strategic initiatives in 2024 and served as president of Kaiser Permanente Washington from 2016 to 2022.