Blue Shield of California appoints new CEO to tackle ‘affordability crisis’
Blue Shield of California has appointed Mike Stuart, a former chief financial officer with experience in hospital finance, as its next chief executive.
Stuart said in an interview that he plans to advocate for better payment models, innovations that make health care easier for patients and medical workers, and solutions to what he described as the industry’s “affordability crisis.”
He said his views on health care affordability were shaped in part by his experience with the Daughters of Charity Health System, where he worked for 11 years, eight of them as CFO. The hospital system, he said, served a large portion of patients who were uninsured or relied on Medi-Cal or Medicare.
“It was a very formative portion of my career. I really was drawn to the mission of the work,” Stuart said. “I saw firsthand the impacts when access is difficult.”
He said Blue Shield of California, which has 6 million members, will continue its efforts to tie payments to patient outcomes. And he cited Blue Shield of California’s recent efforts to redesign its pharmacy benefits and prior authorization systems as examples of projects that may move the needle on patients’ access to care.
In January, the insurer ditched its traditional pharmacy benefits model, dropping CVS Caremark for third-party pharmacy benefit manager services except specialty drugs. It divided the responsibilities among several different companies, and began striking more deals to buy medications directly from their manufacturers. Last month, the CEO of Blue Shield of California’s parent company said the effort had saved the insurer between $120 million and $150 million. And in June, the company announced commitments to cut back on the use of prior authorization and generally make the process easier, faster and more transparent.
“It’s those types of new, bold, innovative things that are going to be critical to making meaningful progress on making health care more affordable,” Stuart said. “With the affordability crisis, one, we don’t have time, and we’re not going to solve this with small, incremental changes over time. We need to scale really bold solutions.”
Stuart was appointed to the insurer’s chief financial officer role in 2022. He has served as Blue Shield of California’s president and CEO in an interim capacity since Lois Quam stepped down from those roles in March.
“Our industry is facing extraordinary challenges — from rising costs to regulatory shifts and increasing demands for equity and access,” Board Chair Kristina Leslie said in a news release. “In this environment, we need a leader who not only understands the complexity of the healthcare system but also has the conviction and capability to drive real, sustainable change. Mike brings exactly that.”
Stuart holds a Master’s in Business Administration from Saint Mary’s College of California and a Bachelor of Science from California State University, Chico.
