The Alliance of Community Health Plans, a trade group that represents some of the largest not-for-profit health insurers in the country, has named Ceci Connolly as its next CEO.
Connolly, 52, will take over the Washington-based organization this January. She will replace Patricia Smith, who is retiring after a decade at the helm of ACHP.
ACHP has 23 members, including large provider-based insurers like Kaiser Permanente, Geisinger Health Plan, SelectHealth and UPMC Health Plan. The group and many of its members have been outspoken on hot-button issues, including the high costs of prescription drugs and Medicare Advantage payments.
Connolly views ACHP's membership as one of its biggest strengths, saying they are vocal proponents of the “triple aim” strategy of improving the patient experience, taking care of populations and lowering healthcare costs.
“I became more and more convinced that these are the organizations that represent our best hope for the future of healthcare,” Connolly said. “They've got the incentives aligned around quality and around their community.”
For the past four years, Connolly has been a managing director at PricewaterhouseCoopers' Health Research Institute. She also was a healthcare reporter for more than a decade at the Washington Post. Connolly said it would have been a difficult transition if she had gone directly from the newsroom to the health insurance lobby. But the past several years of research and interaction with private healthcare companies have given her a chance to get a broader view of the system, she said.
“I think I'm just at a point in my life and my career where I wanted to have some greater impact and get closer to the action,” Connolly said. “This seemed like a pretty rare opportunity to do that in a meaningful way.”
Connolly said she will have a better idea of her agenda once she officially takes the post. However, drug pricing and telehealth for Medicare Advantage beneficiaries will likely remain top-of-mind issues.
