Most of the nation's largest health payers have a single CEO at the helm and operate under one name across many states. In contrast, Blue Cross and Blue Shield payers function as smaller, independent companies, though they are often the largest insurer within their respective state.
Meet the individuals leading the BCBS affiliates in the *South:
BCBS of Alabama
Tim Vines has been president and CEO since 2018 after serving at the company for 27 years. Previously, he held the roles of COO, chief administrative officer, senior vice president of business operations and senior vice president of health management.
Arkansas BCBS
Curtis Barnett has been president and CEO of the company since 2017 after being promoted from senior vice president of internal operations and president and CEO of the company's subsidiary USAble Corp.
Florida Blue
Pat Geraghty has been president and CEO of the company since 2011, after he left the same position at BCBS Minnesota. Before that, he was a senior vice president at Horizon BCBS of New Jersey.
Highmark BCBS Delaware
Nicholas Moriello has been market president of the company since 2018. Prior to Highmark, he was vice president of consumer, Medicare and government affairs at Savoy Associates.
CareFirst BCBS (District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia)
Brian Pieninck has been president and CEO of the company since 2018. He had been the company's COO since 2017. Prior to joining CareFirst in 2015, he was president of the Americas for Aetna International.
BCBS of Georgia
Robert Bunch has been president of the company since January 2022 after spending the past 20 years with Anthem. Most recently, he had served as COO and vice president of Anthem national accounts.
Anthem BCBS Kentucky
Kennan Wethington has been president of the company since 2017 after first joining in 2003. Previously, he had served as regional vice president of sales. Before Anthem, he was a practicing attorney.
BCBS of Louisiana
Steven Udvarhelyi, MD, has been president and CEO of the company since 2016. Previously he was executive vice president of health services and chief strategy officer at Independence Blue Cross. He also was faculty at Harvard Medical School and had a clinical practice at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.
BCBS of Mississippi
Carol Pigott has been president and CEO since at least 2012. The company did not respond to a request for more information about its leadership structure.
BCBS of North Carolina
Tunde Sotunde, MD, has been president and CEO of the company 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.
BCBS of Oklahoma
Stephania Grober has been president of the company since May 2022 after she was promoted from vice president. She first joined the organization in 1997.
BCBS of South Carolina
Michael Mizeur has been president and CEO of the company since July 2022 after first joining the company in 1998. He served in various leadership roles, including CFO and COO.
BCBS of Tennessee
J.D. Hickey has been CEO of the company since 2015 after first joining in 2011 as CEO of the company's Medicaid managed care subsidiary BlueCare. Before that, he was a principal at consulting firm McKinsey & Co.
BCBS of Texas
James Springfield has been president of the company since 2021. Previously, he was COO at Cancer Treatment Centers of America. He has held leadership roles with Optum, Memorial Hermann Healthcare System in Houston and Valley Baptist Health System in South Texas.
Anthem BCBS Virginia
Jeff Ricketts led the company as plan president for five years before his retirement in September 2022. He had been with the company since 1984. No replacement has been named.
Highmark BCBS West Virginia
James Fawcett has been president of the company since 2016. He's been with Highmark for more than 30 years and has also served in leadership positions within the Delaware and Pennsylvania markets.
View the BCBS CEOs in the Northeast here.
View the BCBS CEOs in the Midwest here.
*South is defined by the U.S. Census Bureau as Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Texas.