Joe Swedish

Chairman, President & CEO
Anthem, Inc.

Joseph R. Swedish is chairman, president and chief executive officer of Anthem, Inc., a Fortune 33 company and the nation’s leading health benefits provider, serving more than 40 million members—or one in eight Americans—through its affiliated health plans and over 74 million individuals across 27 states through Amerigroup, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield health plans, CareMore, Simply Healthcare, and its portfolio of health services subsidiaries.

Swedish joined Anthem in March 2013 and quickly set forth the company’s vision to be America’s valued health partner. A visionary leader with an ongoing commitment to healthcare innovation and collaboration, Swedish is dedicated to transforming America’s healthcare system by revolutionizing relationships with providers and expanding access to high-quality, affordable healthcare for consumers. During his tenure, Swedish has reinvigorated the company’s culture, centered around meeting the unique needs of its increasingly diverse members and communities, and mobilized Anthem’s 53,000 associates around four strategic pillars—provider collaboration, managing total cost of care, consumer centricity and quality.

Since Swedish joined the company, Anthem’s membership has grown by four million, or 11%, to more than 40 million, the average share price has approximately tripled, and operating revenue has increased 39% to over $84 billion. Continuing to evolve Anthem’s strategy to position the company for long-term success, Swedish oversaw the completion of the Simply Healthcare acquisition in February 2015 to serve Medicaid and Medicare members in Florida.

Swedish has more than 44 years of healthcare leadership experience, including over 25 years as CEO for several major health systems, most recently as president and CEO of Trinity Health, an 18-state integrated healthcare delivery system, and previously held CEO and senior leadership positions with Centura Health and Hospital Corporation of America. Throughout his career, Swedish has built a reputation for accelerating financial and operational performance combined with improvements in cost and quality of care by enhancing strategic direction and tactical market realignment. He has also specialized in leveraging value-creating assets through mergers and strategic acquisitions. Swedish is a recipient of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year - Rocky Mountain Region award, regarded as one of the most prestigious business award programs in the country, and was one of five healthcare leaders named to Crain Communications’ “Top 100 Innovators” list in 2016. Swedish has also been recognized as one of Modern Healthcare’s “100 Most Influential People in Healthcare” for the previous 11 years, being named in the top 20 of the health sector’s most senior-level executives, high-level government administrators, elected officials, academics and thought-leaders for four consecutive years.

In January 2017, Swedish assumed the role of chairman of the board of America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), the national trade association whose members provide coverage for healthcare and related services to millions of Americans every day. Swedish also serves on the board of directors for CDW, a leading provider of technology solutions to business, government, education and healthcare; the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association; the National Institute for Health Care Management; and AHIP. He is also chairman of Duke University’s Fuqua School of business board of visitors and a member of the Duke-Margolis external advisory board. Swedish previously held board and advisory positions with Coventry Health Care, Inc., RehabCare Group, Inc., Cross Country, Inc., the American Hospital Association, Catholic Health Association (as its chairman), National Quality Forum and Loyola University Chicago.

Swedish received his bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and his master’s degree in health administration from Duke University.