Gail Boudreaux has led Elevance Health, the insurer formerly known as Anthem, since 2017. The company is one of the largest health insurers in the United States and the biggest operator of Blue Cross Blue Shield plans, covering roughly 47 million medical members and reporting operating revenue of about $195 billion for the twelve months ending September 2025.
Through Elevance and its Carelon services arm, Boudreaux oversees not only insurance coverage but a growing business in pharmacy, care delivery, and health-data analytics. That combination places decisions about what care is approved, and about how patient data is used, inside a single publicly traded company.
A former college basketball standout and longtime executive at UnitedHealth Group, Boudreaux is consistently ranked among the most powerful women in American business and one of the highest-paid executives in the health sector.
What they control
- Elevance Health, a top U.S. health insurer covering roughly 47 million medical members
- The largest portfolio of Blue Cross Blue Shield licensed plans, spanning 14 states
- Carelon, Elevance's pharmacy, care-services, and health-data division
- Large Medicaid and Medicare Advantage books that depend on government contracts
- Coverage, prior-authorization, and claims decisions affecting millions of patients
Key institutions & holdings
Formerly Anthem; renamed Elevance Health in 2022.
Elevance's health-services, pharmacy, and data arm.
Elevance is the largest operator of Blue Cross Blue Shield plans.
Key facts
- Has served as CEO since 2017, first of Anthem and then of Elevance Health.
- Elevance covers roughly 47 million medical members as of 2025.
- Operating revenue was about $194.8 billion for the twelve months ending September 30, 2025.
- Anthem renamed itself Elevance Health in June 2022 and changed its ticker to ELV.
- Boudreaux's reported total compensation was about $20.5 million for 2024.
Timeline
- 1960Gail Koziara Boudreaux is born.
- 2017Named chief executive of Anthem.
- 2022Anthem rebrands as Elevance Health.
- 2024-12Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield reverses a proposed anesthesia time-limit policy after public backlash.
- 2025Elevance reports operating revenue near $195 billion and roughly 47 million medical members.
Controversies
Anesthesia coverage reversal · 2024
In late 2024 Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield announced it would limit anesthesia payment based on time benchmarks in several states, then reversed the plan on December 5, 2024 after sharp criticism from anesthesiologists, governors, and the public.
Coverage denials and prior authorization · 2024
Like other large insurers, Elevance has faced scrutiny over claim denials and prior-authorization practices that can delay or block care, a debate that intensified across the industry in 2024.
Network
- Joseph SwedishPredecessorLed Anthem as CEO before Boudreaux.
- UnitedHealth GroupFormer employerBoudreaux was a senior executive at UnitedHealthcare before joining Anthem.
- CarelonSubsidiaryElevance's services and data division under her leadership.
Why this matters
Health insurers like Elevance sit between patients and the care their doctors recommend. When one company decides coverage for tens of millions of people and also controls pharmacy services and troves of health data, its internal policies on denials, prior authorization, and data use can shape medical outcomes and costs for ordinary families, largely outside public view.