A regional Blue Cross insurer in the southern Midwest is turning to a long-time marketing executive to guide it into the next generation of health insurance.
The board of directors for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City has appointed a new president and CEO, Danette K. Wilson.
A 28-year-veteran of the nonprofit insurer, Wilson was most recently group executive and chief marketing officer, and has been serving as interim leader since August, when David Gentile retired after four years as CEO and 33 years at the company.
"Danette has made a significant positive impact on the day-to-day operations providing stability in the short time she has been serving as interim CEO," said Thomas McCullough, Blue KC's chairman.
"As a long-term employee, her influence has been felt throughout the company for years," said McCullough, twho is also chief operating officer at DST Systems, a regional financial services company. "Her ability to build relationships, strong leadership skills, and comprehensive knowledge of our company and the insurance industry position the organization for continued growth and long-term success."
Not long after becoming interim president and CEO, Wilson reorganized the insurer's executive team, clarifying accountability through five direct reports: Brian Burns, SVP of integrated health services, CFO Bryan Camerlinck, Nancy Creasy, SVP of service and technology, Rick Kastner, general counsel, and Erin Schneider-Stucky, SVP of sales and marketing.
With a bachelors degree in business from the University of Nebraska, Wilson came to Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City in 1987 as a marketing associate. By 1995 she was a senior sales consultant and then in 1998 became vice president of large group marketing and a decade later senior VP of large group marketing.
In 2010, Wilson became chief marketing officer and group executive of external operations -- taking responsibility for a good chunk of the company's adaptation to the Affordable Care Act.
With $2.4 billion in annual revenue and more than a million members, KC Blue is the Kansas City metropolitan area's largest insurer, and the largest non-profit insurer in Missouri, vying against for-profit Blue rival Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Missouri, as well as the likes of Humana and Aetna's Coventry.
In the ACA exchanges Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City has been selling plans in both Kansas and Missouri, while also nurturing consumer-focused services and seven subsidiaries via a for-profit holdings company called Cobalt Ventures.
In the past few years, the insurer has opened three retail centers, called Live Blue, where members and potential members can come to learn about health plan options or the basics of Medicare.
Wilson be overseeing that portfolio in the coming years, while also rooting for the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers football team and serving on the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce board of directors, the Civic Council and the Kansas City Metropolitan Crime Commission.