Who is the ceo of unitedhealthcare

UnitedHealth Group said Sir Andrew Witty has been promoted to chief executive officer in a surprise shakeup that ends the short tenure of David Wichmann as the diversified health care company’s top executive.

Witty only recently returned to UnitedHealth after a stint helping the World Health Organization develop vaccines against Covid-19. Witty, who is 56 years old, has been president of UnitedHealth’s Optum health services business since 2018 while Wichmann had been CEO for a short period of time compared to others who have run the health insurance giant in the past.

But UnitedHealth on Thursday said the board of directors has named Witty as chief executive officer and he “will rejoin the UnitedHealth Group Board of Directors and becomes CEO immediately, with Wichmann continuing in a transition period through March 2021.”

UnitedHealth said Wichmann, who is 59 years old, is retiring “after successfully guiding the company through a period of growth and innovation and the deeply challenging onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.” Wichmann became CEO of UnitedHealth in September 2017 after serving as the company’s chief financial officer.

UnitedHealth chairman Stephen Hemsley, who was the company’s CEO for 13 years before handing over the reigns to Wichmann, said Witty “combines an extraordinary breadth and depth of health care experience, sophisticated strategic thinking and outstanding leadership development skills, making him uniquely well-positioned to help the company take the next steps on its steady path to grow and deliver for its shareholders and the customers and people we are privileged to serve.”

Witty only returned to UnitedHealth in December after taking a leave of absence running Optum to “co-lead a global effort of the World Health Organization” to develop a vaccine against Covid-19. That effort has been a well-documented success with several companies developing effective vaccines with two on the U.S. market and more expected to be launched around the world in the coming months.

Witty has been CEO of UnitedHealth’s fast growing Optum health services business and previously ran the global drug and vaccine maker GlaxoSmithKline Plc. Witty joined the executive suite of UnitedHealth when he became CEO of Optum in March of 2018.

Prior to joining UnitedHealth and Optum, Witty was CEO and a director of GSK from 2008 until 2017, having joined the global drug and vaccine giant in 1985. “While CEO of GSK, he gained global recognition for his efforts to develop and expand access to critically needed vaccines,” UnitedHealth said in a statement last year when he took his leave of absence.

Witty said he looked forward to leading the new executive team at UnitedHealth, which includes Dirk McMahon, who Thursday was named the company’s President and chief operating officer and John Rex, the chief financial officer.

“I am deeply honored to help guide one of the most consequential organizations in health care, where our responsibility is to execute flawlessly and deliver on our potential each day,” Witty said in a statement. “Together with my partners Dirk McMahon and John Rex, we have the right strategy, and tremendous people and capabilities throughout the organization to continue strengthening our efforts to improve the health system for everyone. Dave Wichmann is leaving a powerful legacy of service to others and commitment to innovation for us to build upon.”

UnitedHealth profits fell nearly 40% in the fourth quarter of last year amid rising costs related to the Covid-19 pandemic. UnitedHealth still made $2.2 billion in the fourth quarter though that number was down significantly from the more than $3.5 billion the company made in the fourth quarter of 2019. Revenues rose to $65.5 billion in the period compared to $60.9 billion in the fourth quarter of 2019.

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• UnitedHealth Group has named longtime executive Brian Thompson as the new chief executive officer of its health benefits business, UnitedHealthcare, the biggest private payer in the U.S.
• Thompson, who joined UnitedHealth in 2004, was most recently CEO of UnitedHealthcare's government business, including its Medicare, retirement and community and state divisions.
• It's a major personnel announcement from newly minted UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty, who took the reins in February following the retirement of Dave Wichmann. Thompson is replacing Dirk McMahon, who was CEO of UnitedHealthcare since June 2019 and was elevated to UnitedHealth's chief operating officer as part of that leadership shakeup.

UnitedHealthcare is a major business of UnitedHealth, contributing $200 billion of the Minnetonka, Minnesota-based healthcare behemoth's $257 billion in revenue last year. The payer has a large commercial unit along with its government Medicaid and Medicare business, covering more than 43 million members in the U.S.

The unit has expanded steadily over the past few years, especially in growth areas like Medicaid and privately run Medicare Advantage plans, two lucrative markets as people lose employer-sponsored insurance due to the pandemic's economic fallout.

UnitedHealthcare dominated MA enrollment for 2021, outpacing rivals Aetna and Humana in membership, snatching more than 36% of net-new enrollees with the greatest growth among for-profit health plans, according to a March report from the Chartis Group.

Still, Thompson takes the helm at a contentious time in the payer's provider relationships. UnitedHealthcare is being sued in two states by a large group of anesthesiologists alleging it suppresses competition by forcing physicians out of its network through pressure campaigns, bribes and more. UnitedHealthcare has denied all the allegations.

Also, federal antitrust regulators are taking a deeper look into UnitedHealth's proposed $13 billion acquisition of data analytics company Change Healthcare, following concerns from a major hospital lobby the marriage could give UnitedHealthcare an unfair leg up in negotiations with providers.

Brian Thompson has been named Chief Executive Officer of UnitedHealthcare, the health benefits business of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH).

Thompson joined UnitedHealth Group in 2004 and most recently was CEO of UnitedHealthcare's government programs including the Medicare & Retirement and Community & State businesses, serving the health and well-being needs of seniors and Medicaid beneficiaries. As CEO of UnitedHealthcare, Thompson will drive continued growth across the global, employer, individual, specialty and government benefits businesses while continuing the company’s focus on ensuring access to high-quality, affordable health care.

“Brian’s experience, relationships and values make him especially well-suited to help UnitedHealthcare improve how health care works for consumers, physicians, employers, governments and our other partners, leading to continued and sustained long-term growth,” said Andrew Witty, CEO of UnitedHealth Group.

About UnitedHealth Group

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) is a diversified health care company dedicated to helping people live healthier lives and helping make the health system work better for everyone. UnitedHealth Group offers a broad spectrum of products and services through two distinct platforms: Optum, which provides information and technology-enabled health care services; and UnitedHealthcare, which provides health care coverage and benefits services. For more information, visit UnitedHealth Group at www.unitedhealthgroup.com or follow @UnitedHealthGrp on Twitter.

Brian Thompson was named chief executive officer for UnitedHealthcare in April 2021. Prior to this role, Brian served as chief executive officer of UnitedHealthcare's government programs including Medicare & Retirement, the largest business dedicated to the health and well-being needs of seniors and other Medicare beneficiaries; and Community & State, which proudly serves 6 million Medicaid members in 31 states, plus Washington D.C. 

Prior to leading government programs, Brian served as chief executive officer of the Medicare & Retirement organization. Brian joined UnitedHealth Group in 2004 and since then has held numerous leadership positions including chief financial officer for UnitedHealthcare’s Employer & Individual, Community & State and Medicare & Retirement businesses. In addition, he has served as the financial controller for UnitedHealthcare's Employer & Individual business as well as a director in Corporate Development. 

Prior to joining UnitedHealth Group, Brian was a practicing CPA at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, serving as a manager in the Transaction Advisory Services group of the Audit practice.

Dr. Anne Docimo is chief medical officer of UnitedHealthcare, responsible for the clinical, cost and experience outcomes of more than 50 million members in UnitedHealthcare’s Commercial, Medicare and Medicaid health plans. She works diligently with both internal and external stakeholders to develop and implement clinical strategies and programs to improve the overall health care system and help us deliver on our mission of making the health care system work better for everyone. 

Dr. Docimo has served as a physician leader in the evolving health care marketplace for more than 20 years. As a practicing clinician in primary care and emergency medicine, she worked in private practice, as a government contractor, in a staff-model HMO and in academic medical centers. Most recently, Dr. Docimo served as the executive vice president of Population Health and chief clinical transformation officer for Jefferson Health in Philadelphia. 

Prior to joining Jefferson Health, Dr. Docimo served both as chief medical officer for the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), as well as senior medical director of UPMC Hospitals. While at UPMC, Dr. Docimo led the design and development of a proprietary system for care management and a claims-based member record. As a physician executive in both provider and payer organization, Dr. Docimo has experience in using clinical and claims data to design and implement population health programs to improve clinical and financial outcomes.

Stephanie Fehr is chief people officer for UnitedHealthcare. Stephanie brings over 20 years of human resources and talent development experience to her role at UnitedHealthcare and is responsible for building the UnitedHealthcare talent infrastructure.

Before joining UnitedHealthcare, Stephanie held human resources and talent leadership roles in Apple’s operations, leadership development, and retail divisions. She led the design, development and implementation of Apple's leadership training program, AMP, and has been a key member of Apple’s retail executive team.

Kirsten Gorsuch is chief communications officer for UnitedHealthcare. In this role, she oversees a team that develops and implements communications strategies to enhance and protect UnitedHealthcare’s reputation, create a more favorable business environment and strengthen employee engagement.

Prior to joining UnitedHealthcare, Kirsten served as senior vice president of external affairs for Blue Shield of California where she was responsible for corporate communications, government affairs, alliance management, corporate social responsibility and community relations. She also served as the head of corporate communications at Medtronic, the world’s leading medical device company. Prior to her corporate roles, Kirsten was senior vice president at two global public relations firms, Ketchum and GCI Group, where she counseled a wide range of clients in the health care sector.

She is a former trustee and current member of the Arthur W. Page Society, an organization of individuals who have reached the highest level of practice in the field of corporate communications or public relations.

Thad Johnson is chief legal officer of UnitedHealthcare. In this role, he has overall responsibility for UnitedHealthcare’s legal and regulatory affairs functions. Prior to this, he was general counsel of UnitedHealthcare’s Employer & Individual business and had oversight of legal, compliance, regulatory affairs and health care reform implementation.

Thad joined UnitedHealth Group in 2000 as an associate general counsel and assistant secretary supporting corporate development, treasury and finance. He has held various legal leadership roles, including network, pharmacy, clinical services, transactions, vendor and strategic partnership contracting, and corporate governance and licensing.

Prior to joining UnitedHealth Group, Thad was with Dorsey & Whitney where he advised private and public companies on securities law, merger and acquisitions, debt and equity offerings, private equity placements, corporate governance concerns and other general business matters. 

He previously served on the board of directors for the Children’s Law Center of Minnesota.

Philip Kaufman is chief growth officer of UnitedHealthcare. In this role, he’s responsible for driving growth across the commercial, Medicare and Medicaid businesses by leading innovation, strategy and business planning and development in alignment with UnitedHealthcare’s priorities and enterprise goals. In addition, Philip serves as CEO of the Individual & Family Plan business, which is focused on creating access to affordable health care for consumers by expanding UnitedHealthcare’s presence in the individual exchange market. He also leads our social determinants of health platform and capabilities.

Philip has been with UnitedHealth Group for more than 20 years. Most recently, he was the chief operating officer of UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual (E&I) where he was accountable for aligning and leading the strategy, operations, product, marketing, advocacy, digital and business advancement functions. Prior to that role, he served as CEO of UnitedHealthcare of Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota, where he brought together the enterprise capabilities and functions needed for the successful launch in these new markets. Philip has also held several leadership positions within the Ancillary & Individual division of E&I, including president of UnitedHealthcare Specialty Benefits and CEO of UnitedHealthcare Vision.

Prior to joining UnitedHealth Group, Philip worked in mergers and acquisitions for the Rothschild Group and Deutsche Bank AG.

Dan Kueter is the chief executive officer of UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual Domestic, a $65 billion division of UnitedHealthcare and the nation’s largest business serving the health coverage and well-being needs of employers and consumers.

Prior to being named CEO in 2022, Dan served as chief financial officer of UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual. In this role, he had financial and strategic oversight of the business’s diverse portfolio of health plans, ranging from traditional fully insured and self-funded plans to the full scope of ancillary and voluntary benefits.

Dan joined UnitedHealth Group in 2001 and served in roles at Optum and UnitedHealthcare Networks before transitioning to Employer & Individual in 2008 to become a health plan market CEO. After nearly six years developing and leading large-scale, provider-led population health organizations outside the enterprise, Dan returned to UnitedHealthcare in 2018 to lead Employer & Individual’s network strategy as part of UnitedHealthcare Networks.

Vicki Miller is president, UnitedHealthcare Networks (UHN), at UnitedHealthcare (UHC), a global organization serving key markets and geographic regions with a broad range of health benefit products and services for both consumers and benefits sponsors. Vicki is responsible for the strategic oversight, vision and operational execution of UHN’s national care network, which includes 1.5 million in-network doctors and health care professionals. Vicki and her team ensure UnitedHealthcare is meeting the needs of its members and providers while driving high-quality care and patient outcomes.

Vicki joined UHC in 2001 as part of the Network Management organization. Prior to her current role, she served as national vice president, regional network teams and contract management, responsible for the contract development and operational execution related to UnitedHealthcare’s commercial, Medicare and Medicaid provider networks. Prior to joining UHC, she held positions of increasing leadership with Prudential Health Care and Aetna U.S. Healthcare.  

In addition to her career at UHC, Vicki has served on the American Lung Association North Florida Advisory Board and was prior President of the Board. She has been a board member with the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce as well as the YMCA of Clay County. Additional volunteer activities include supporting Habitat for Humanity and the Ronald McDonald House.

Mary Murley is chief executive officer of UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual Global. Serving approximately 5.5M members with health care benefit plans and services in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru and Portugal. Global cares for local populations in its 50 hospitals and over 200 clinics and outpatient centers, serving 10M unique patients over the past three years. Mary oversees all operations in UnitedHealthcare’s Employer & Individual Global markets.

Previously, Mary was senior vice president of risk and analytics for UnitedHealthcare. In this role, Mary lead the development of risk-based partnerships and guided the company’s health care economics and strategies to enhance our data capabilities. In addition, she oversaw the actuarial responsibilities for the Government Programs businesses comprising both Medicare & Retirement and Community & State.

Mary has also been the chief actuary for Medicare & Retirement and led the actuarial, underwriting and health care economic functions. Her responsibilities included valuation of reserves; development of annual bid filings with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid; trend review and analysis; and forecasting and underwriting. In addition, Mary provides strategic advice regarding UnitedHealthcare’s product offerings and positioning, quality programs, value-based arrangements, and advocacy with external stakeholders.

She has more than 25 years of experience in health care and has worked with a variety of managed care entities, including insurance carriers and providers, across all lines of business. Prior to her roles at UnitedHealthcare, she worked in actuarial consulting for over 15 years.

Krista Nelson is chief operating officer for UnitedHealthcare, where she leads global operational performance and experience. In this role, Krista oversees more than 30,000 operations employees and leaders across multiple business areas at UnitedHealthcare. Krista’s priority is improving the experience for clients, consumers, providers and employees. 

Previously, Krista was chief growth and experience officer for UnitedHealthcare, where she led strategy and growth across all four lines of business – commercial, Medicare, Medicaid and global – and accelerated the company’s focus on key stakeholders.

Krista was also chief executive officer for the Individual and Family Plan (IFP) business, where she successfully led re-entry into the individual exchange market across 18 states. And, she’s been instrumental in advancing social determinants of health and health equity strategies. And, she’s been instrumental in growing our social determinants of health and health equity strategies. 

Krista joined UnitedHealth Group in 2009 and has held a variety of leadership roles within the company in strategy, experience, innovation, product development and growth. She is known for driving organic innovation by standing up early-stage businesses and capabilities, from bundle payments, post-acute care and digital health, to new product development.

Prior to joining UnitedHealth Group, Krista worked at Deloitte as a consultant in Strategy & Operations. She spent the majority of her time with the Merger & Acquisition and Customer Market Strategy practices where she worked with multiple Fortune 100 companies to set and accomplish strategic priorities, including improved customer experience, five-year strategic planning, enhanced operational processes, increased customer retention and evaluation and execution of acquisition targets.

Krista earned her MBA from the University of St. Thomas and received a bachelor’s degree in finance and accounting from the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management.

Tim Noel serves as chief executive officer of UnitedHealthcare's Medicare & Retirement business, the largest business dedicated to the health and well-being needs of seniors and other Medicare beneficiaries. Prior to this role, Tim was chief financial officer and senior vice president of Federal Products for Medicare & Retirement, where he was responsible for the overall financial performance of the company as well as the planning, strategy and competitive positioning of Medicare Advantage and Part D products. Tim joined UnitedHealth Group in 2007 and has held a variety of financial and operational leadership roles with responsibility for planning and analysis, financial modeling for mergers and acquisitions, investor relations, and oversight of several financial operations functions.

Prior to joining UnitedHealth Group, Tim held a variety of financial and operational leadership roles, most recently for Northwest Airlines, where he was extensively involved in the bankruptcy reorganization process.

Jeff Putnam is the chief financial officer for UnitedHealthcare. Jeff is responsible for the overall financial management of the combined commercial, Medicare and Medicaid benefits businesses.

Before moving to UnitedHealthcare, Jeff was senior vice president and controller for UnitedHealth Group. He served in this role from 2011 through 2016 and was responsible for the corporate accounting, financial planning and analysis, capital planning, corporate actuarial and accounts payable functions. 

From 2007 through 2010, Jeff was the senior vice president of financial planning and analysis, leading enterprise budgeting and forecasting, management reporting and analysis, accounts payable, and corporate procurement activities. In 2005 and 2006, he served as chief financial officer for the Medicare Advantage business, where he had oversight of financial planning, underwriting and operations. Before joining UnitedHealth Group in 2005, Jeff spent 13 years in the airline industry in various finance and operations senior management roles.  

Jeff currently serves on the board of Second Harvest Heartland, and previously served as a director and board chair of Free Arts Minnesota.

Tim Spilker is the chief executive officer of UnitedHealthcare Community & State. UnitedHealthcare Community & State proudly serves nearly six million Medicaid members, including more than 2.7 million children, in 31 states, plus Washington D.C. UnitedHealthcare is a division of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), which is a diversified health and well-being company with a mission to help people live healthier lives and help make the health system work better for everyone. UnitedHealthcare Community & State leverages the national capabilities of UnitedHealth Group and delivers them at the local market level to support effective care management, strong regulatory partnerships, greater administrative efficiency, improved clinical outcomes, and the ability to adapt to a changing market environment.

Before being named CEO of Community & State, Tim served as CEO of the East Region, where he was responsible for the organization’s Medicaid business strategy and operations in 12 eastern markets. Tim took on the role of CEO for the East Region at Community & State in August 2016. Before becoming East Region CEO, he served as CEO of the UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Kansas. Tim has worked in a variety of industries, including consumer products, community development banking and nonprofit organizations.

Tim earned an undergraduate degree from Northwestern University, an MBA from Harvard Business School, and a Masters in Healthcare Delivery Science from Dartmouth College.