Gail Boudreaux

Gail Boudreaux
Born	Gail Koziara
Nationality	American
Occupation	Healthcare executive
Title	President and CEO of Elevance Health
Known for	President and CEO of Elevance Health (formerly Anthem, Inc.)

Gail Boudreaux is an American healthcare executive who serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Elevance Health, one of the largest health insurance companies in the United States, formerly known as Anthem, Inc. A former collegiate and professional basketball player, Boudreaux transitioned into a career in the healthcare industry, rising through executive roles at several major insurance and health benefits companies before being named to lead Anthem in 2017. Under her leadership, the company rebranded to Elevance Health and has navigated a period of significant change in the American healthcare landscape. Forbes ranked Boudreaux number 14 on its 2025 Power Women list, and Modern Healthcare named her to its list of the 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare in 2025. Boudreaux has also been a prominent figure in national discussions about healthcare affordability and insurance costs, testifying before the United States Congress on these topics.

Early Life

Gail Boudreaux was born Gail Koziara and grew up in a working-class family. Her father was a steelworker. She developed a strong interest in athletics from an early age, particularly in basketball, which would prove instrumental in shaping her early career trajectory and educational opportunities. Boudreaux's athletic talent earned her a scholarship to attend college, providing a pathway to higher education that might otherwise have been difficult for her family to finance.

Education

Boudreaux attended Dartmouth College, where she was a standout athlete on the women's basketball team. She was a four-year starter and set multiple records during her time at the school. Her athletic accomplishments at Dartmouth earned her significant recognition, and she was later inducted into the school's athletic hall of fame. After completing her undergraduate degree at Dartmouth, Boudreaux went on to earn a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Columbia Business School, which provided the foundation for her subsequent career in business and healthcare management.

Career

Early Career in Healthcare

After completing her MBA, Boudreaux entered the healthcare industry and built her career through a series of progressively senior executive positions at major health insurance and benefits companies. She held leadership roles at Aetna, where she gained extensive experience in managed care and health benefits administration. She rose to become the executive vice president of Aetna's national businesses. Her tenure at Aetna provided her with deep expertise in the operational and strategic aspects of large-scale health insurance operations.

Boudreaux subsequently served as CEO of United Healthcare, a division of UnitedHealth Group, one of the largest healthcare companies in the world. In this role, she oversaw the operations of one of the nation's largest health insurance businesses, gaining further experience managing large, complex organizations in the healthcare sector. Her track record of leadership at multiple major healthcare companies positioned her as one of the most experienced executives in the American health insurance industry.

Leadership at Anthem / Elevance Health

In November 2017, Boudreaux was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of Anthem, Inc., succeeding Joseph Swedish. The appointment made her one of the few women leading a Fortune 500 company and the head of one of the largest health insurance companies in the United States. Anthem, which at the time served approximately 40 million members through its affiliated health plans, was a major presence in the Blue Cross Blue Shield system.

Under Boudreaux's leadership, the company underwent a significant corporate rebranding in 2022, changing its name from Anthem, Inc. to Elevance Health. The name change was intended to reflect the company's broader strategy of moving beyond traditional health insurance to become a more comprehensive health services organization. The rebranding encompassed the company's growing focus on pharmacy benefits, behavioral health, and data analytics, in addition to its core insurance business.

Boudreaux has led Elevance Health through a period of considerable strategic evolution. The company has pursued a strategy of diversification, expanding into healthcare services and technology beyond its traditional insurance operations. This approach has been part of a broader trend among major health insurers to vertically integrate and expand their roles in the healthcare value chain.

Navigating Cost Pressures

During her tenure, Boudreaux has faced the challenge of managing healthcare cost pressures that have affected the broader insurance industry. In July 2025, Boudreaux addressed these challenges during the company's second-quarter earnings call, stating that Elevance Health was taking "concrete steps" to address cost pressures in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and Medicaid markets. The company lowered its 2025 financial guidance amid these pressures, reflecting the difficulty of managing costs in segments of the market that serve lower-income and subsidized populations.

The issue of healthcare affordability became a significant national concern during this period, and health insurance companies including Elevance Health faced increasing scrutiny from legislators, the media, and the public regarding rising premiums and healthcare costs. The debate intensified following the December 2024 murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, which drew widespread public attention to frustrations with the health insurance industry.

Congressional Testimony

In January 2026, Boudreaux was among several major health insurance company CEOs who testified before the United States Congress on the issue of healthcare affordability. The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health and the House Ways and Means Committee held hearings on January 22, 2026, at which commercial health insurer CEOs, including Boudreaux, were called to testify about soaring healthcare costs and rising premiums.

The hearings were convened by Congressman Brett Guthrie of Kentucky, Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Congressman Jason Smith, Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. During the hearings, top health insurance executives, including Boudreaux, attributed rising healthcare costs primarily to increasing hospital prices and prescription drug prices, rather than to insurance company practices. The American Hospital Association submitted statements for the hearings that offered an alternative perspective, highlighting insurer practices they viewed as contributing to costs.

The testimony received significant media coverage, with The Hill broadcasting the hearings live and reporting extensively on the exchanges between lawmakers and the insurance executives. The hearings reflected the heightened scrutiny the health insurance industry faced in the wake of public frustration over healthcare costs, and Boudreaux's appearance before Congress represented a high-profile moment in the national debate over the causes of and potential solutions to healthcare unaffordability.

Recognition

Boudreaux has received significant recognition for her leadership in the healthcare industry. Forbes ranked her number 14 on its 2025 Power Women list, placing her among the most influential women in the world across business, government, and philanthropy. Modern Healthcare named her to its 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare list for 2025, recognizing her role in shaping the direction of one of the nation's largest health companies.

Boudreaux has appeared on multiple Forbes lists over the course of her career, reflecting her sustained prominence as one of the most powerful women in American business. Her ranking on the 2025 Power Women list was particularly notable given the intense public scrutiny the health insurance industry faced during that period.

In addition to her recognition in the business press, Boudreaux's athletic career at Dartmouth College earned her induction into the school's athletic hall of fame, honoring her contributions as a collegiate basketball player. Her dual achievements in athletics and business have made her a notable figure in discussions about women's leadership in both sports and corporate America.

Personal Life

Gail Boudreaux is married and has children. She was a competitive athlete before entering the business world, having played basketball at the collegiate level at Dartmouth College and briefly at the professional level. Her background in competitive athletics has been noted in profiles as contributing to her leadership style and competitive approach to business.

Boudreaux has served on various corporate and nonprofit boards throughout her career, reflecting her involvement in the broader business and civic community beyond her role at Elevance Health.

It should be noted that an obituary published in November 2025 for a Gail Marie Broussard Boudreaux, aged 83, of Louisiana, pertains to a different individual and is unrelated to the Elevance Health executive.

Legacy

As one of the few women to lead a Fortune 500 healthcare company, Boudreaux's career represents a notable chapter in the history of women in American corporate leadership. Her ascent from a working-class background through athletic achievement, elite education, and a series of progressively senior executive positions at major healthcare companies to the top role at one of the nation's largest health insurers has been cited as an example of upward mobility in American business.

Boudreaux's tenure at Elevance Health has coincided with a period of significant transformation in the American healthcare industry, as traditional insurers have sought to expand into broader health services roles. The rebranding of Anthem to Elevance Health under her leadership reflected this strategic shift and represented one of the more prominent corporate identity changes in the healthcare sector during this era.

Her appearance before Congress in January 2026, alongside other major insurer CEOs, marked a notable moment in the ongoing national debate over healthcare affordability. The hearings placed Boudreaux and her peers at the center of a contentious policy discussion about the role of insurance companies in driving or mitigating healthcare costs, a debate that remains unresolved and continues to shape the political landscape around healthcare in the United States.

Boudreaux's leadership has also been shaped by the broader challenges facing the health insurance industry, including rising medical costs, the complexities of the Medicaid redetermination process, cost pressures in the ACA marketplace, and heightened public scrutiny of insurer practices. Her responses to these challenges, including the strategic adjustments announced during 2025 earnings calls and her testimony before Congress, will likely be evaluated by industry observers and historians as part of a broader assessment of how the health insurance industry navigated this turbulent period.