Payer CEOs come from a range of backgrounds — here are 10 companies led by physicians:
- John Bennett, MD, is president and CEO of Capital District Physicians Health Plan in Albany, N.Y., a role he has held since 2008. He was previously CEO of Prime Care Physicians PLLC, where he led a team of 25 cardiologists.
- Michael Cropp, MD, is president and CEO of Independent Health in Buffalo, N.Y. Dr. Cropp has led the organization since 2004. He was previously chief medical officer at Independent Health.
- John Espinola, MD, was named president and CEO of PacificSource Health Plans in Springfield, Ore., in April. He was previously executive vice president, chief strategy and product officer of Premera Blue Cross and CEO of Premera subsidiary Kinwell Physician Network.
- Michael Genord, MD, is president and CEO of Health Alliance Plan in Detroit. He became CEO in 2020 after serving as the plan's chief medical officer. He managed an obstetrics and gynecology practice for 17 years.
- Mark Huth, MD, has been president and CEO of Group Health Cooperative of South Central Wisconsin since 2015. He was previously the organization's chief medical officer. He is also chair of the board of directors of the Alliance of Community Health Plans.
- Sachin Jain, MD, is president and CEO of SCAN Health Plan. Before joining SCAN in 2020, he was president and CEO of CareMore Health and Aspire Health, and he was chief medical information and innovation officer at Merck & Co.
- Paul Kasuba, MD has been president and CEO of Martin's Point Healthcare in Portland, Maine, since 2022. Dr. Kasuba was previously chief medical officer of Tufts Health Plan.
- Mark Mugiishi, MD, has been president and CEO of Hawaii Medical Service Association since 2020 after first joining the company in 1995. He previously served as the company's chief medical officer and chief health officer and is the co-founder of the Endoscopy Institute of Hawaii and the Eye Surgery Center of Hawaii in Honolulu.
- Tunde Sotunde, MD, has been president and CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina since June 2020. Before that, he was president of Medicaid in Anthem's government business division and was also a practicing pediatrician in Syracuse, N.Y.
- Steven Udvarhelyi, MD, has been president and CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana since 2016. Previously he was executive vice president of health services and chief strategy officer at Independence Blue Cross. He also was on the faculty at Harvard Medical School and had a clinical practice at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.