Angela Braly resigns as president and CEO of WellPoint

Angela Braly has abruptly stepped down from her position as president and CEO of WellPoint, an Indianapolis-based Blue Cross Blue Shield licensee with some 34 million members covered by Blues plans in several states including California. The move came following calls for her replacement from investors.

A search committee has been established to consider both internal and external candidates, and John Cannon, WellPoint's executive vice president, general counsel, corporate secretary and chief public affairs officer, will serve as interim president and CEO, a news release said. The release also noted that Cannon told the board he did not wish to be considered as Braly's permanent replacement.

Also Jackie Ward, WellPoint's lead director, has been named “non-executive chair” of the board of directors, effective immediately, the release said.

“Our Board continues to believe that time will prove the wisdom of potentially transformative actions taken under Angela's leadership,” Ward said in the release, citing such actions as the sale of WellPoint's pharmacy benefit management business to Express Scripts and the proposed acquisition of Amerigroup, a Virginia Beach, Va.-based managed care provider for Medicare and Medicaid recipients, for $4.9 billion.

“But now is the right time for a leadership change,” Ward added. “We believe the remaining executive team is dynamic and strong, with great potential to drive WellPoint's future success, and John Cannon in particular is the right person to lead our most important initiative, which is the completion of the Amerigroup transaction.”

Royal Capital Management, a New York-based hedge fund and major WellPoint stockholder, had recently called for Braly's removal.

Braly has placed on Modern Healthcare's 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare List six times, most recently placing ninth. In 2011, she was named to Modern Healthcare's list of the Top 25 Women in Healthcare.