The shake-up at the nation's sixth-largest health insurer has hit the Chicago-based company's board of directors.
M. Ray Perryman stepped down from the Health Care Service Corp. board less than three months after CEO Paula Steiner's departure, which reportedly resulted from a disagreement with directors over growth strategy.
Having served on the board since 2002, Perryman "chose to retire" in September, spokesman Matt Burns said in an emailed statement. "We are grateful for his service to our members and HCSC."
Perryman, CEO of Waco, Texas-based economic research and analysis firm The Perryman Group, was the second-highest paid HCSC director last year, collecting $343,724, according to company filings. Perryman did not respond to requests for comment.
HCSC, which owns Blue Cross plans in five states, "has been around for over 80 years," Burns said. "Board members retire in the normal course of business and new board members are added as needed." Perryman's replacement has not been named.
As Crain's reported earlier this month, Milton Carroll, an energy industry executive who has served as HCSC's board chairman since 2002, got $930,347 last year. Carroll pocketed $4.9 million in both 2016 and 2017 for overseeing the transition to new executive leadership and providing "strategic guidance in a rapidly evolving industry and regulatory environment," Burns recently told Crain's.
Meanwhile, Chief Human Resources Officer Nazneen Razi left last month after about eight years with the company, Burns said in a separate emailed statement, adding, "we thank her for her contributions and wish her well."
Razi is the latest senior executive to step down. In addition to Steiner, Chief Financial Officer Eric Feldstein and Chief Information Officer Steve Betts left the insurer in July and August, respectively.
For HCSC, 2018 was a banner year. Net income more than tripled to $4.1 billion, thanks mostly to a tax refund, as revenue rose 10 percent to $36 billion.
"Director, executive changes at Blue Cross of Illinois parent" was originally published in Crain's Chicago Business.
