A former Albany insurance exec takes over area operations

By Danielle Kost
Democrat and Chronicle

(Friday, February 1, 2002) -- BlueCross BlueShield of the Rochester Area has hired a former Albany insurance executive as its new president.

Scott Ellsworth, formerly vice president of sales for MVP Health Care Inc., will start on Monday. He takes over for Kevin Hill, who was promoted as part of a corporate reorganization at Excellus Inc., BlueCross' parent company.

"Excellus is now a $4 billion organization that is insuring 2 million people in 45 counties," Hill said. "It has become a larger and more complex organization."

Excellus is the second-largest health insurer and largest nonprofit health insurer in the state.

Hill is now executive vice president and chief operating officer of Excellus Health Plan. He will handle the day-to-day activities of all Excellus health plans except for Univera Healthcare in Buffalo, which will remain a separate division for now.

Hill takes over many of the daily duties of David H. Klein at Excellus Health Plan, although Klein will continue to head the division as president. Klein also retains his position as executive vice president and chief operating officer of Excellus Inc., the parent company of the health insurers, a home-health agency, a provider division and a long-term-care insurance division.

Howard Berman will remain president and chief executive officer of Excellus Inc.

The reorganization also includes the consolidation of some departments, Hill said.

Ellsworth, 36, who was not available for comment, will oversee all sales, provider relations and contracting in the Rochester area. He was selected from a "half-dozen" candidates during a search that took about four months, Hill said.

"We think he is terrific," Hill said. "His background is extensive, both in managed care and some of the newer product designs."

Ellsworth spent two years at MVP Healthcare, a nonprofit health maintenance organization with about 500,000 members in eastern New York and Vermont.

During that time, MVP Healthcare's enrollment increased by about 100,000 and its regional reach also increased, said Amy Ertel Bellcourt, the company's chief marketing officer and Ellsworth's former supervisor.

Bellcourt called Ellsworth "a dynamic leader" with "tremendous energy."

Ellsworth joins BlueCross and Excellus at a time when the insurer seeks to cement its regional presence.

Last fall, Excellus merged with Buffalo-based Univera Healthcare. In November, Excellus hired a president to handle its Southern Tier region. Excellus has already merged the HMO products of its central New York and Utica-Watertown divisions.

Hill said at a Democrat and Chronicle editorial board meeting in November that the insurer was considering adding Rochester to the regional HMO eventually. It already offers a regionwide preferred provider organization product.

At the same time, BlueCross has taken heat from employers for its record premium increases. However, the industrywide issue of stemming premium increases should not be new to Ellsworth, said Jake Flaitz, a principal at the benefits consulting company William M. Mercer Inc., which has offices in Rochester.

Ellsworth will also have to step into the difficult role of negotiating contracts with area hospitals and provider groups, Hill said.

BlueCross and local hospital systems, especially Strong Health, have often had tenuous relationships.

But introducing a new liaison to the hospitals from outside the area may improve those ties, Flaitz said.

Critics of Excellus' rapid expansion say that this reflects a shift away from the insurer's original market: Rochester.

"As Excellus expands its geographic base to points east and west, it is going to be much less accountable to the Rochester area," said Peter Robinson, chief operating officer of Strong Health.

But Hill dismissed that concern.

"What we're doing is taking advantage of the regional heritage that we have long enjoyed," he said.