WellPoint’s Management Shuffle

WellPoint’s management shake-up continued this week with Cynthia Miller, vice president and chief actuary, and Bradley Fluegel, the company’s chief strategist and external-affairs officer, the latest executives to leave the company.

WellPoint’s image has taken a hit lately, and someone has to pay the price. Angela Braly, President and CEO, has had to defend the company lately: for a planned rate increase of up to 39% for many of its nearly 800,000 individual policyholders in California; when angry investors and activists demanded to know why the company was increasing premiums while also canceling the policies of breast cancer patients.

Prior to this week’s announcement, WellPoint most recently said that Executive Vice President Dijuana K. Lewis was fired without cause. Lewis will remain with the company until the end of the year to “assist in the transition of her duties.”  Lewis had served as president and CEO of WellPoint’s Comprehensive Health Solutions Business Unit, which includes provider relations, and care and disease management, since October 2007.

Before that, Lewis served as president of local group business and was responsible for $31 billion in annual revenue and about 47 percent of WellPoint’s total membership. WellPoint’s chief medical officer, Dr. Sam Nussbaum, was named interim president of Comprehensive Health Solutions while the company searches for the new president. An Oct. 27 article in the Indianapolis Business Journal quoted unnamed sources as saying Lewis objected to having some of her responsibilities shifted to another executive, and that her departure was a mutual decision.

Pam Kehaly was named recently to replace former President Leslie Margolin of Anthem of California. Anthem is California’s largest for-profit health insurance company. Kehaly will oversee sales, account service, marketing, underwriting and product delivery and maintain customer relationships. She will also direct development of Anthem Blue Cross’ long-term strategic direction. Kehaly recently served as Aetna’s president of national accounts.

Also, WellPoint announced the appointment of Lori Beer as executive vice president of the newly formed Enterprise Business Services (EBS) organization. EBS is an integrated team that brings together five core business support functions — Service Operations, Operational Excellence, Information Technology, Information Management, and Sourcing and Supplier Management. Beer has more than 20 years of technology and related business experience, including more than 12 years at WellPoint.

Finally, HealthPlan Holdings, Inc. appointed John S. Watts, Jr., a former executive with WellPoint, Inc., to chairman. HealthPlan is a leading provider of outsourcing solutions to insurers in the individual, small business, union trust and voluntary benefits markets. Watts previously served as president and CEO of WellPoint’s commercial and consumer segment comprised of individual, small group, large group and national accounts. Prior to WellPoint, Mr. Watts was president and CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield Georgia.