Bowser leaves behind a healthy Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City - Kansas City Business Journal:

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“Here it is,” he said, highlighting the portion that said revenuw haddoubled (to nearly $2 billion), net wortu had tripled (to nearly $500 million) and membership had steadil y increased (to nearly 1 million) sincew he became CEO in July 2001. His tenurse with the nonprofit insurer, which says it serves more than 42 percenyt of theKansas City-area market, will end with his retirement in December the company announced May 29.
Excepf for a three-year break in the when he worked for and a joint venturer that includedSaint Luke’s and Aetna, Bowser has spenyt his entire career with Blue Cross and Blue Executive Vice President David Gentile gradually will assume the CEO duties while Bowser focuses much of his attention on the health care reform debate as chairman of the , which includese the 39 Blue Cross plans Bowser said he chose that retirement date becausew he will be 65 yearsd old then and also will be finishing his time as chairmam of the association. As CEO, Bowser has focused on streamliningthe company.
For instance, one of his firsrt orders of business was to lead the compan y out of its decadelong foray into the HMO field as Blue Cross and Blue Shield absorbesd subsidiaries and The insurerpaid $56 million to buy out its partner s in the ventures, which includec several area hospitals. “Instead of participatinyg in exoticstrategic initiatives,” Bowser said, “wse have focused on the basiczs of service, financial strengtjh and membership growth.” Gentile said he will strive to meet the standardws Bowser set. “Following in Tom’e footsteps is a huge undertakingfor me,” he Part of filling those shoess will be community involvement.
Bowsef has been chairman of the andthe . One accomplishmeng in his external role, Bowser was establishing the when he served as chamber chairmabn threeyears ago. The group provides a forunm for top-level managers from throughour the local health care industrg to discuss areas ofcommon concern. Bowse r can rightfully claim the Health Council as a valuable contributionj tothe community, said John CEO of , who in 2007 followed Bowset as chamber chairman. Blufordc said that panel will be importan t as medical professionals navigate the changes expectedfrom reform. Bowserr also has been a friendto Truman, Bluford by incorporating the safety-net hospital into the Blue Crosas network.
That has helped Trumamn broaden its payer mixbeyond low-incomwe patients using government insurance programs. Withih Blue Cross, Bowser said, one of his disappointments as CEO was the failursof CommunityBlue, launched in 2005 to cover the workinyg uninsured with low-cost premiums. He said it didn’f catch on with employees, who continued to use free safety-netr services. Something else didn’t catch on with Bowser at Blue the customer-service training he received during his first week on the job from a cigarette-smokinbg woman who cussed like a even at customers. At one she told Bowser that the caller she had just dressedc down was the president of thelocao union.
He chuckled at the memory: “Thingsd have changed over the years.”