Jeff Fusile succeeds Morgan Kendrick as president of BlueCross BlueShield of Georgia

BlueCross BlueShield of Georgia has a new leader, with Jeff Fusile succeeding Morgan Kendrick as president of the insurance company owned by Anthem Inc.

The move, announced Monday, puts a person with financial and consulting experience in the top spot at the Georgia health-care insurer. Fusille, a Florida State University graduate with an accounting and finance degree, previously served as senior vice president and chief financial officer with Anthem’s commercial and specialty business division.

He has been with Indianapolis-based Anthem since 2011. Before that, he spent more than two decades as a strategic management consultant, including nearly 13 years with PricewaterhouseCoopers and its health insurance consulting practice. He is a licensed certified public accountant with a background in the areas of “payor, provider and pharmaceutical,” the company said.

“I lived in Georgia from 1998 until 2005, and I am definitely looking forward to returning with my wife and four children, and joining the team at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia,” Fusile said in a statement.

Kendrick becomes president of the insurer’s national accounts business, the same operation in which he had previously served as vice president of sales before becoming president of Atlanta-based BlueCross BlueShield of Georgia in October 2010. The Auburn University graduate, with a management degree, specialized in “building and strengthening relationships with local communities, providers and brokers.”

His signature accomplishment in Columbus was overseeing the move of the insurer’s local workforce from the office complex it had inhabited on Warm Springs Road since 1958 to a state-of-the-art 235,000-square-foot structure in Muscogee Technology Park in the Midland area of the city. The building accommodates about 1,500 staffers. There also are more than 600 employees working remotely from their houses, processing insurance claims.

“This will be the home for about 1,500 of our 4,000 associates in the state of Georgia, and we’ve got the capacity to grow to 2,000 as our business progresses,” Kendrick said during the new office’s grand opening in early September. “We could not be happier about continuing our relationship and building our home in Columbus, Georgia.”

Columbus is one of four operational hubs for Anthem in the U.S., with BlueCross Blue Shield of Georgia serving nearly 3 million people covered under its insurance plans, including contracts with the state of Georgia health benefits plan.

Fusile takes charge with the Georgia insurer competing in the overall marketplace and with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act continuing to be phased in after becoming law in 2010.

This story was originally published November 3, 2015 at 12:09 PM with the headline "Jeff Fusile succeeds Morgan Kendrick as president of BlueCross BlueShield of Georgia ."