Tom Vanderheyden, the executive who launched UnitedHealthcare's "start-up" insurer called Harken Health, has landed a job with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota.
The Eagan-based insurer announced this week that Vanderheyden is joining the senior leadership team as president of diversified business.
He'll oversee strategies for expanding diversified business investments, bringing new health care product to market and commercializing existing services, according to a news release from Blue Cross.
In September, the Star Tribune reported that Vanderheyden no longer held the CEO job at Harken Health, a pilot project from UnitedHealthcare that combines coverage with easy access to primary care at company-owned clinics.
Harken Health focused on selling coverage to individuals in Chicago and Atlanta, but the markets have been rocked by changes with the federal Affordable Care Act. Several insurers, including Harken and Minnetonka-based UnitedHealthcare, have seen plenty of red ink in the individual market under the federal health law.
Before his work at Harken, Vanderheyden held several leadership positions at parent company UnitedHealth Group. He has a bachelor's degree in organizational management and communications from Concordia University, and an MBA in global management from the University of Phoenix.
"Tom's record of accelerating business growth and identifying new ways to deliver health care made him the right leader to complement and supplement the health plan products that we have been offering to Minnesotans for more than 80 years," said Michael Guyette, the Blue Cross chief executive, in a statement.
In December, the Star Tribune reported that Harken would leave new government-run exchanges in Chicago and Atlanta, and shift focus to the employer group market.
