50 Most Influential Physician Executives – 2016

In an era of widening income inequality and desperate need for primary care, Medicaid has become a lifeline for millions of America's poorest residents, especially since the Affordable Care Act expanded eligibility. For Dr. J. Mario Molina, 57, his family-owned enterprise has vigilantly and exclusively served that oft-overlooked population, well before other companies raced into the booming managed Medicaid sector. "Our primary business is taking care of low-income people," he said. The publicly traded Molina Healthcare runs on razor-thin margins, but its clinic-driven model has connected more than 3.5 million people to doctors, perhaps keeping them out of the emergency room in the process. Molina has expectations to grow even more. "We need to make sure that everybody in the country can get health insurance of some sort."

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