After one of its worst years ever, one Blue Cross company is banking on an insider and native son to lead a comeback.
The board of Noridian Mutual Insurance Company, the parent of Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota, has named Tim Huckle as president and CEO, following the termination of the previous CEO in May.
A 29-year veteran of Noridian and Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota and a native of Valley City, N.D., Huckle has served in a variety of roles, first as a management specialist, then later HR vice president, development and strategy VP and most recently, chief operating officer, overseeing five different business units.
For the past two months, Huckle has served as interim president and CEO, after Paul von Ebers, CEO from 2009 to May 2014, was ousted in the wake of heavy financial problems.
The company booked a $72.8 million loss in 2013, most of it from the company's technology subsidiary, whose 2012 contract to build Maryland's health insurance exchange was severed after widespread technology problems. 2013 also saw an underwriting loss -- the first since the days of the Great Recession in 2008 -- of $25 million.
Still facing the possibility of a lawsuit from Maryland to recoup the $68 million that was collected on the exchange contract, the board of Noridian is counting on Huckle to lead a financial turnaround and generate gains from what has actually been increasing membership, amid North Dakota's booming, oil-driven economy.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Dakota is the state's largest insurer, claiming a roughly 75 percent market share across insurance segments, with combined membership increasing by about 86,000 lives last year, to some 416,000 North Dakotans and about 96,000 residents from neighboring states.
"The Board was unanimous in its decision to appoint Tim Huckle as our President and CEO," said NMIC Board Chair Ann McConn, a president at the banking services company Alerus Financial, in a media release.
"The Board continues to be impressed by Tim's commitment to the organization's members and employees, and his steady leadership as we navigate during this time of unprecedented changes to our industry," McConn said.
Huckle also spent time as CEO on an interim basis in 2009, before von Ebers was brought in, after 18-year CEO Mike Unhjem was ousted amid a public uproar over a Cayman Islands trip for top employees that coincided with rate increases.
During that period, the board said, Huckle "succeeded in maintaining business continuity and performance during what was considered a challenging timeframe for the organization."