The CEO and President of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas’ parent company, Paula Steiner, is on her way out. She has led Health Care Services Corporation, the largest customer-owned health insurer, since 2016.
HCSC board member and David Lesar, a former Halliburton chairman, will serve as the interim CEO until a replacement has been found. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois president Maurice Smith has been named president of HCSC.
Steiner spent 35 years in the Blue Cross system, through the growth of the insurance industry, skyrocketing healthcare costs, and the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. HCSC has 16 million members in Illinois, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas.
“Paula led the company through significant industry change and oversaw our continued diversification and steady growth,” said Milton Carroll, Chairman of the HCSC Board of Directors via release. “We are grateful to Paula for her many years of leadership and service to HCSC and our 16 million members, and we wish her well in future endeavors.
“The Board has complete confidence in Dave and Maurice to lead our great company forward,” Carroll said via release. “As we look to the future and our next generation of leadership, our commitment to standing with our members in sickness and health will not change.”
For 25 years, Lesar worked in the energy industry and has been on the board since December 2018. “HCSC is a strong company that exists, first and foremost, to serve its members,” said Lesar via release. “I look forward to partnering with Maurice and the leadership team to advance our important mission, and to working with the board to identify HCSC’s next CEO.”
Prior to being president at BCBS of Illinois, Smith was senior vice president of Treasury, Business Development and Subsidiary Management at HCSC. “I am grateful for this opportunity to continue working with HCSC’s 23,000 employees to further serve our communities and expand access to quality, affordable health care,” said Smith via release.
