(Reuters) – Anthem Inc’s
The Wall Street Journal first reported the news on Friday.
Swedish will continue to receive his current salary as executive chairman and be eligible for a prorated bonus and as an adviser, he will be paid $4.5 million per year.
Swedish’s move comes at a time of change for Anthem, the No. 2 U.S. health insurer. The company cut Obamacare individual market participation by 70 percent for next year and recently announced plans to bring its pharmacy benefit management in house. It also may face a much larger Aetna Inc
Boudreaux was most recently CEO of United Healthcare, a unit of the biggest U.S. health insurer, UnitedHealth Group Inc
BMO Markets analyst Matthew Borsch said in a research note that Boudreaux is held in high regard by investors but that Anthem’s stock is still a “market-perform” given the company’s slower-growth business mix.
“We expect there may be a period of uncertainty among investors until the reasons for the reported leadership change are understood and fully accepted by the market,” he wrote.
Boudreaux, who will take on the role of CEO on Nov. 20, will receive an annual salary of $1.4 million with a potential bonus of up to 350 percent of her salary, along with an initial stock grant worth $2 million. Long-term incentives are worth up to $10.25 million.
Swedish orchestrated Anthem’s $54 billion deal for smaller rival Cigna Corp
Two weeks ago, news broke that Aetna and CVS were in talks over a deal that would create a combined health insurance, pharmacy benefit management, and pharmacy company. The deal is expected in December, Reuters reported.
The impact of that deal is unclear on Anthem’s recently announced plan to use CVS to help manage its pharmacy benefits business as it exits its contract with Express Scripts Holding
(Reporting by Caroline Humer in New York and Ankur Banerjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Bernard Orr and Sai Sachin Ravikumar)