Taking Action Against the Rising Cost of Prescription Drugs

Kim A. Keck is president and chief executive officer of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA), a national federation of 35 independent, community-based and locally operated Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies. The Blue System is the nation’s largest health insurer covering one-in-three Americans.Keck, a respected leader in the healthcare industry, has built a reputation as an engaged, incisive leader. Prior to joining BCBSA in 2021, she served as president and CEO of Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island (BCBSRI), the state’s largest health insurer. During her tenure at BCBSRI, she drove strategic initiatives around cost and value stewardship, convenience and comprehensive health, and led policy efforts fortifying elements of the Affordable Care Act to ensure all Rhode Islanders have access to quality care. She also combatted long-standing social issues influencing health outcomes, including childhood obesity, housing insecurity and racial inequities.Keck previously spent 28 years at Aetna, where she held leadership roles spanning from head of enterprise strategy to head of investor relations, treasury, tax, actuary, controllers and planning. She served as president of Aetna’s northeast region and interim president of the southeast region and was responsible for $20 billion in revenue and approximately five million members across the commercial and Medicare segments.Keck graduated with honors from Boston College with a degree in mathematics and earned a Master of Business Administration in finance from the University of Connecticut. She is a CFA charter holder.Keck serves on the boards of directors of Oak Street Health and Evolent Health. She is a frequent speaker on topics related to healthcare policy and women’s leadership.

Gina Guinasso has joined as the President of CivicaScript and is tasked with extending the successful Civica Rx model to the outpatient setting in order to dramatically lower the cost of select high-cost generic medications for individuals and families across the country.Most recently Gina was the Senior Vice President of Commercial and Medicare Formulary Contracting Strategy at OptumRx, a UnitedHealth Group company. In this capacity, she led the day-to-day rebate negotiations for all internal and external pharmacy benefit management clients across all lines of business including commercial, Medicare part D, managed Medicaid, and fee for service Medicaid. Gina’s team was responsible for formulary strategy development and execution of manufacturer agreements for both pharmacy and medical benefit products and oversaw both traditional rebate and value-based contracts.Prior to joining OptumRx, Gina spent over 20 years in the biopharmaceutical industry focused on leading market access account teams, federal markets, distribution strategy, specialty pharmacy networks, state and federal policy, patient assistance, and reimbursement strategy. Gina is a lawyer by training and has extensive experience contracting with commercial health plans, PBMs, Medicare and managed Medicaid plan sponsors, specialty pharmacies, wholesalers, 3PLs, and pharmaceutical manufacturers.Gina is an active member of the Washington State Bar Association. She received her BA in International Business from Washington State University and her Juris Doctor from Seattle University School of Law.

Jarrod Henshaw is the CEO of Synergie Medication Collective, a new medication contracting organization founded by a group of Blue Cross and Blue Shield affiliated companies to serve both Blues and select independent health plans for nearly 100 million Americans. Prior to joining Synergie, Henshaw served as the Chief Innovation Officer and Chief Supply Chain Officer for Prime Therapeutics. Henshaw has a deep background with more than 20 years of history in healthcare–specifically within the pharmaceutical supply chain. He has led innovative value-based contracting for both public and private companies.