100 Most Influential People in Healthcare - 2021

Neidorff had led significant efforts in diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at his company, from which he will retire in 2022. The insurer is also the largest presence on the individual coverage marketplaces. Neidorff launched and served as president and CEO of Physicians Health Plan of Greater St. Louis, growing it to become one of UnitedHealth Group’s most successful plans. He also served as regional vice president of Coventry Health Care, president and CEO of Group Health Plan, and as a senior executive with Miles Laboratories/Bayer AG. He is a member of the Committee on Economic Development of the Conference Board and the board of the National Urban League.

Neidorff speaks: “Unfortunately I don’t believe that this is the last pandemic that we will see in our lifetime. I think these things have a way of repeating themselves. … I think we need to see the kind of leadership that says, ‘We’re going to shut the place down, and we’re not going to reopen too fast.’ What I hope public authorities have come to learn is that you shut it down fast … and you support the people that need it in the environment.”