Ben Lytle is Chairman of Univita Health. Most recently, he was the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Axia Health Management, the nation’s largest provider of wellness and prevention services. Previously, Ben was Chairman and CEO of Anthem, Inc. which acquired WellPoint, Inc. (NYSE) in 2004 and assumed the WellPoint name, becoming the nation’s largest health plan. During his tenure, the company, which started as Blue Cross Blue Shield of Indiana, transformed through a series of mergers and acquisitions to form Anthem, a $16 billion revenue Fortune 500 company. During this same period, he created, took public, and sold Acordia, Inc., which became the world’s seventh largest insurance broker. Ben retired as CEO of Anthem in 1999, continued as Chairman until 2003; and chaired the Strategic Planning Committee in 2004 to 2006 until he retired from the Anthem/WellPoint Board. He continues as Chairman Emeritus.
Ben’s entrepreneurial leadership and innovative strategies have been cited in well-known books, he is a frequent lecturer on health care and strategic planning and has authored numerous articles, provided testimony to Congress and state legislatures, chaired Indiana’s Health Care Commission, and served on President Clinton’s Commission on Consumer Protection and Healthcare Quality.
Ben currently serves on the boards of directors of Duke REIT (NYSE), Healthways, Inc. (NASDAQ), the Genstar Private Equity Group Advisory Board, and as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Kronos Institute for Aging. He is an executive in residence at the University of Arizona School of Business and was the recipient of the University of Arizona’s 2004 Executive of the Year Award.
