{"id":9414,"date":"2023-08-10T08:52:41","date_gmt":"2023-08-10T08:52:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/distilinfo.com\/healthplan\/?p=9414"},"modified":"2023-08-10T08:52:41","modified_gmt":"2023-08-10T08:52:41","slug":"previous-ceo-of-bcbs-north-carolina-medicaid-announces-candidacy-for-governor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/distilinfo.com\/healthplan\/previous-ceo-of-bcbs-north-carolina-medicaid-announces-candidacy-for-governor\/","title":{"rendered":"Previous CEO of BCBS North Carolina Medicaid Announces Candidacy for Governor"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote><p>Jesse Thomas, former CEO of BCBS North Carolina Medicaid, has announced his candidacy for governor. He aims to lead as a pragmatic Republican, prioritizing economic issues like abolishing the state&#8217;s income tax, expanding school choice, and addressing Medicaid expansion and the fentanyl crisis. Thomas joins Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson and State Treasurer Dale Folwell in the race.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Jesse Thomas, a former executive at Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, has officially declared his intention to run for the position of governor in the state.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas held the role of CEO at Healthy Blue, Blue Cross&#8217; Medicaid division, from 2018 until his departure in July 2023. With an extensive background in the healthcare sector, he has occupied prominent leadership roles at various organizations such as Anthem (now known as Elevance Health), CareFirst BCBS, UnitedHealth Group, Molina Healthcare, and Centene&#8217;s WellCare.<\/p>\n<p>Presenting himself as a pragmatic Republican, Thomas is placing a strong emphasis on economic concerns, as outlined in an August 2nd press release. His primary goals encompass the elimination of the state&#8217;s income tax, the advancement of educational alternatives through school choice, the effective implementation of the state&#8217;s Medicaid expansion, and tackling the challenges posed by the fentanyl epidemic.<\/p>\n<p>In his own words, &#8220;The people of North Carolina are seeking a governor who delivers tangible outcomes for our populace, rather than one who conforms to transient trends.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Additional contenders in the gubernatorial race include Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson and State Treasurer Dale Folwell.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jesse Thomas, former CEO of BCBS North Carolina Medicaid, has announced his candidacy for governor. He aims to lead as&#8230; <a href=\"https:\/\/distilinfo.com\/healthplan\/previous-ceo-of-bcbs-north-carolina-medicaid-announces-candidacy-for-governor\/\" style=\"white-space: nowrap;\">Continue Reading <i class=\"fas fa-long-arrow-alt-right\" style=\"vertical-align: middle;\"><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9415,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-9414","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-distilinfo-originals","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/distilinfo.com\/healthplan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9414"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/distilinfo.com\/healthplan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/distilinfo.com\/healthplan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/distilinfo.com\/healthplan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/distilinfo.com\/healthplan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9414"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/distilinfo.com\/healthplan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9414\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9416,"href":"https:\/\/distilinfo.com\/healthplan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9414\/revisions\/9416"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/distilinfo.com\/healthplan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/distilinfo.com\/healthplan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/distilinfo.com\/healthplan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/distilinfo.com\/healthplan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}