Centene is once again shaking up its senior leadership team after a number of changes to its C-suite in recent years.
The changes come as the insurer outlined its financial expectations for next year ahead of its investor day on Friday.
Centene expects its total revenue for next year to lag behind 2022 as federal regulators are expected to lift consumer protections that kept people enrolled in Medicaid plans throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Centene expects 2023 revenue to reach as much as $139.4 billion. The firm anticipates 2022 revenue to finish somewhere between $142.7 billion and $144.7 billion.
With the senior leadership changes, Jim Murray will serve as chief operating officer, replacing longtime Centene leader Brent Layton who will become adviser to the CEO as he transitions toward retirement. Layton was first appointed as COO last September.
Murray joined Centene after its $2.2 billion acquisition of Magellan Health this year. Murray is currently chief transformation officer, a role he has held since January.
Murray will report to Ken Fasola, former CEO of Magellan, who was has been named as president of Centene. Fasola will report to Centene CEO Sarah London. Fasola is currently executive vice president of healthcare enterprises at Centene.
Dave Thomas, who joined Centene after its acquisition of Fidelis Care in New York, will lead Centene’s core product, Medicaid and business development as CEO of markets and Medicaid. He will report to Fasola.
These new leaders are all recent alums of other organizations and came to Centene by way of acquisition.
Centene also tapped Alice Chen, chief medical officer of Covered California, to be chief health officer; and Brian LeClaire, of Arsenal Capital Partners, to serve as chief information officer.
Centene has recorded a number of leadership changes recently.
London, a former Optum executive, succeeded the late Michael Neidorff in March. Neidorff lead the St. Louis-based insurer for nearly 26 years.
London’s appointment followed pressure from an activist investor group that secured a deal to change up the company’s leadership team and board.
At one point the company created an “Office of the President” and later a “value creation office.” The changes, viewed as succession planning ahead of Neidorff’s departure, garnered criticism with one analyst calling it “anything but clean.”