Gail Boudreaux Named One of the "Most Powerful Women" in Business by Both FORTUNE and Forbes
MINNETONKA, Minn. (Sept. 21, 2009) – Gail K. Boudreaux, president of UnitedHealthcare and executive vice president of UnitedHealth Group, has been recognized by both FORTUNE and Forbes as a top female business leader.
Boudreaux was named to the FORTUNE “50 Most Powerful Women” list and the Forbes “100 Most Powerful Women” list for 2009.
FORTUNE ranked Boudreaux #38, up from #45 last year, calling her a “rising star” in the health care industry. The UnitedHealthcare business has approximately 38,000 employees and serves more than 25 million consumers, managing health benefits for individuals, public sector employers and businesses of all sizes, including more than half of the FORTUNE 100 companies.
Forbes’ list ranks women business leaders using a combination of scores that assess the visibility and size of the organization or country the women lead. Boudreaux, ranked #54 by Forbes, leads a business that is part of the UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) family of companies. If UnitedHealthcare were evaluated as a standalone business, it would be the third-largest company in the U.S. with a woman at its helm.
“Gail’s recognition by FORTUNE and Forbes reflects her unwavering commitment to improve access to quality care and deliver innovative solutions to the more than 25 million individuals served by UnitedHealthcare,” said Stephen Hemsley, president and CEO of UnitedHealth Group. “Since Gail joined our organization, she has consistently raised the bar for what our company can achieve in helping people live healthier, more productive lives.”
Boudreaux came to UnitedHealthcare in May 2008 after serving in a series leadership positions throughout the health care industry for more than 25 years. Under her leadership, UnitedHealthcare repositioned its business in 2008 to refocus on local markets, enabling the business to more directly support regional, market-facing activities and increase responsiveness in the rapidly changing competitive landscape. The company saw across-the-board improvements in customer satisfaction scores in 2008 and business growth in several local markets in 2009, despite a challenging economic environment.
In addition to leading the UnitedHealthcare business, Boudreaux is an active contributor to several industry, professional and civic organizations. She currently serves on the board of directors for Genzyme Corp. and America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), the industry’s trade association. She is also a member of the Healthcare Leaders Roundtable at the Center for Corporate Innovation and the Chicago Network, an organization of Chicago’s most influential women.
In May of this year, Boudreaux was honored with an Industry Leader award in the annual Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal Women in Business awards.
FORTUNE’s “50 Most Powerful Women” list runs in the magazine’s September 2009 issue, available on newsstands and online at http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/mostpowerfulwomen/2009. Forbes’ “100 Most Powerful Women” issue (Sept. 7, 2009) is available online at www.forbes.com/women.
About UnitedHealthcare
UnitedHealthcare (www.unitedhealthcare.com) provides a full spectrum of consumer-oriented health benefit plans and services to individuals, public sector employers and businesses of all sizes, including more than half of the Fortune 100 companies. The company organizes access to quality, affordable health care services on behalf of more than 25 million individual consumers, contracting directly with approximately 590,000 physicians and care professionals and more than 4,900 hospitals to offer them broad, convenient access to services nationwide. UnitedHealthcare is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), a diversified Fortune 50 health and well-being company.
