Biography

Scott Serota is president and chief executive officer of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA), a national federation of 36 independent, community-based and locally operated Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies. The Blue Cross and Blue Shield System is the nation's largest health insurer, covering 107 million members—one-in-three of all Americans.

Serota was named BCBSA president and CEO in 2000, after serving four years as a senior executive, including two years as chief operating officer. Before that, he was executive vice president for system development, responsible for new business, strategy and the BCBS Technology Evaluation Center, the nation’s leading source for evaluating the safety and efficacy of emerging medical treatments.

Prior to joining BCBSA, Serota was president and CEO of Chicago-based Rush Prudential Health Plans, where he led the integration of Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center Health Plans and The Prudential. Earlier in his career, Serota also created and led Physicians Preferred Health Inc., a Missouri-based PHO.

Serota currently serves as board chairman of Plans’ Liability Insurance Company and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Institute. He is a founding member of the National Business Group on Health's Institute on Healthcare Costs and Solutions, a board member of BCS Financial Corporation and the Brain Research Foundation, and an advisory board member of Paragon Biosciences. He also serves on the Leadership Council of the Healthcare Financial Management Association, the American College of Healthcare Executives, the Dean’s Leadership Council for the College of Science at Purdue University and the Washington University School of Medicine National Council.

Serota was appointed by President George W. Bush to the Policy Committee of the White House Conference on Aging—advising the Administration and Congress on policies, programs and services affecting the nation’s older citizens—and served as chairman of the Subcommittee on Health. He also was a charter member of the American Health Information Community, a federally chartered commission formed to work with former Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt to advance health information technology, including electronic health records.

Among civic leadership roles, Serota serves on the CEO Advisory Board for Building a Healthier Chicago. He is a frequent featured speaker at leading business and industry forums, and has spoken at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Detroit Economic Club, the Executives Club of Chicago, the Jonathan Club in Los Angeles and the World Healthcare Congress in Washington, D.C.

Serota earned a bachelor’s degree from Purdue University and a master’s in health administration and planning from the Washington University School of Medicine. He holds an honorary doctorate of science from Purdue University and has been named a distinguished alumnus of both Purdue and Washington University.