Molina builds executive bench amid company turnaround

Molina Healthcare has hired former Health Net executive James Woys to lead its health plan services business as executive vice president.

Woys will oversee the Long Beach, Calif.-based insurer's health plan support operations, including information technology, claims processing, contact centers, pharmacy services and clinical programs related to quality and risk adjustment, Molina said Monday in news release.

Woys spent 30 years at insurance company Health Net, which is now owned by Medicaid managed-care insurer Centene Corp., where he was most recently executive vice president, chief financial officer and operating officer.

Molina has been putting together a new team of experienced Medicaid executives to help turn the struggling insurance company around. In February, it also hired Pamela Sedmak to head up its health plan operations. She previously served as CEO of Aetna's Medicaid and dual-eligible business before working as a consultant at McKinsey & Co. Both Woys' and Sedmak's positions are newly created.

Molina's aggressive restructuring plan, along with Medicaid contract losses and unpaid federal cost-sharing reduction payments, led to a loss of $512 million in 2017. But it posted a $107 million profit in the first quarter of 2018, signaling the overhaul may be paying off.

As part of that restructuring, Molina has shut down or sold its primary-care clinics and laid off 10% of its workforce, or about 1,500 workers. It has also pulled out of the Affordable Care Act exchanges in certain states while hiking rates by 55% on average in others.

In an April earnings call, Molina CEO Joseph Zubretsky said the company recently eliminated 100 positions, which it expects will save more than $10 million per year.

The company's board fired longtime CEO Dr. Mario Molina and his brother, CFO John Molina, in May 2017.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the amount Molina expects to save from eliminating 100 positions.