Harvard Pilgrim Chief To Chair National Health Insurers' Group

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rmv5liuq-mE

Eric Schultz, the chief of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, is donning a mantle of national prominence in the health insurance world, as the newly elected chair of the board of directors of the trade association America's Health Insurance Plans. AHIP says its members provide health and supplemental benefits to more than 200 million Americans.

From an AHIP press release:

Schultz has more than 26 years of health care experience. Prior to joining Harvard Pilgrim in March 2010, Schultz was president and chief executive officer of Fallon Community Health Plan (FCHP) for ten years. Schultz also held executive positions with CIGNA Healthcare, Prudential Healthcare, and served as Medical Group Administrator for Nashville Healthcare Group.

and:

“I am honored to be elected as the new Chair of the Board of Directors. AHIP has long been a strong advocate for a balanced approach to health care reform. As the new Chair, I will lead our charge to help ensure all Americans have access to care and to identify and address the root causes of our nation’s medical cost and quality challenges. We must pursue truly systemic solutions if reform is to be successful,” said Eric Schultz.

Eric talks about some of those very issues in the video above. I'd been hesitant about posting it, because it's an unaccustomed situation: Harvard Pilgrim itself shot the video of my get-acquainted interview with Eric a few months ago, and then posted it as part of its own Let's Talk Health Care. Also, frankly, I doubted whether many readers would really want to watch a long chat about health insurance.

But now, given Eric's new national position, I figure the footage may offer some useful insights into the directions his AHIP leadership could take. And for the hard-core wonk faction, there are three more video chunks of the interview up on YouTube here, here and here.