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Arkansas Business Power List 2016: Insurance

4 min read

Curtis Barnett, 53

CEO-elect
Arkansas Blue Cross & Blue Shield, Little Rock
In December 2015, Curtis Barnett was named chief executive officer-elect of Arkansas Blue Cross & Blue Shield. He will replace CEO Mark White, who will retire at the end of 2016. Barnett will assume his new role on Jan. 1, 2017, and will report directly to White until then. Barnett has served as senior vice president of internal operations since 2014. Barnett joined the company in 1993. He also has served as president and chief executive officer of USAble Corp. and vice president of operations for BlueAdvantage Administrators of Arkansas. A native of Sherwood, Barnett received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Central Arkansas in Conway and a master’s degree from the University of Arkansas. He also is a graduate of the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management’s Advanced Executive Program.
 


Jim Casey, 59

President and CEO, USAble Life, Little Rock
President and CEO, Life & Specialty Ventures LLC, Little Rock
On Jan. 1, Jim Casey became president and CEO of USAble Life and its parent company, Life & Specialty Ventures LLC of Little Rock. Casey joined the company in 2008 and had served as its chief operating officer. Life & Specialty Ventures includes USAble Life of Little Rock, Your Benefits Agency Inc. of Little Rock and Florida Combined Life Insurance Co. of Jacksonville, Florida. The combined entities have more than 500 employees and provide ancillary insurance, including life, disability and dental coverage. Casey serves on the boards of Life & Specialty Ventures, USAble Life, Florida Combined Life Insurance Co. and United Concordia Cos. He received his MBA with a concentration in finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.


Ed Choate, 60

President and CEO
Delta Dental of Arkansas, Sherwood
Ed Choate had worked 20 years in the managed health care industry before joining Delta Dental of Arkansas as president and CEO in 2000. In 2007, he was named Arkansas Business Executive of the Year. Delta Dental of Arkansas has been named among Arkansas’ Best Places to Work in 2013, 2014 and 2015. In 2014, the company was named Arkansas Business of the Year for Category III, which is for companies with 76 to 300 employees. Delta Dental of Arkansas provides dental insurance and benefit administration to more than 2 million people and more than 3,100 companies headquartered in Arkansas, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. of Bentonville and Tyson Foods Inc. of Springdale. Delta Dental has 167 employees. It wrote $111.6 million in premium in Arkansas in 2014, up 2.8 percent from the previous year.  


John Glassford, 48

President and CEO
HMO Partners Inc., Little Rock
Since 2015, John Glassford has been president and CEO of HMO Partners, the joint venture between Baptist Health and Arkansas Blue Cross & Blue Shield that does business as Health Advantage. It is the oldest health maintenance organization in the state and serves more than 215,000 people. Health Advantage wrote $255.7 million in Arkansas premium in 2014, up 7 percent from the previous year. It has 144 employees. Glassford joined ABCBS as an internal business consultant in 2007.


Allen W. Kerr, 59

Commissioner
Arkansas Insurance Department, Little Rock
Allen Kerr was appointed Arkansas’ 23rd insurance commissioner on Jan. 13, 2015. Before being named commissioner by Gov. Asa Hutchinson, Kerr had served three terms in the Arkansas House of Representatives. Kerr also has more than three decades of experience in the insurance industry. He opened the Allen Kerr Insurance Agency in March 1981, and by its first anniversary, it was ranked No. 1 in production in a district of 40 agencies. In 2013, Delta Trust & Bank of Little Rock bought Kerr’s agency. In 2014, Simmons First National Corp. of Pine Bluff bought Delta Trust, and the insurance agency was named Simmons First Insurance, which Kerr served as president. Kerr has received several industry awards, including recognition as a four-time member of the Million Dollar Round Table for life insurance production.


David L. Moore, 54

Executive Vice President and General Manager
Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co. of Arkansas Inc., Little Rock
In July 2013, David Moore became the general manager of Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co. of Arkansas. In 2014, Farm Bureau reported $244.98 million in Arkansas premium. Moore also is senior vice president-state manager of Southern Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance Co. He started as an internal auditor with Farm Bureau in 1989 and was later promoted to finance manager and then chief financial officer. Moore is a graduate of Leadership Arkansas, the economic and political development program sponsored by the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce.


Michael Stock, 62

President and CEO
QualChoice Holdings Inc., Little Rock
Michael Stock has been president and CEO of QualChoice Holdings Inc. since 2008. A subsidiary of Catholic Health Initiatives of Englewood, Colorado, QualChoice Holdings is the parent company of QCA Health Plan Inc. and QualChoice Life & Health Insurance Co. QualChoice wrote $163.5 million worth of premium in Arkansas in 2014, which was up 9.8 percent from the previous year. It has 247 employees. Stock has served as the CFO and COO of QualChoice and has more than 35 of years of leadership experience in the public accounting and insurance industries.


P. Mark White, 67

President and CEO
Arkansas Blue Cross & Blue Shield, Little Rock
Mark White became the president and CEO of Arkansas Blue Cross & Blue Shield in Little Rock in 2009. White will retire at the end of 2016 and will be replaced by Curtis Barnett. White joined the company in 1970 as a staff accountant. He left the firm in 1975 but returned in 1984 as controller of its affiliate, Life Insurance Co. of Arkansas, which is now known as USAble Life. ABCBS is the state’s dominant insurance company and wrote $1.9 billion in Arkansas premium in 2014, which was up 46 percent from 2013. Arkansas Blue Cross & Blue Shield and its affiliated companies have more than 2,500 employees. White serves on several boards, including USAble Corp., HMO Partners Inc., Life & Specialty Ventures LLC, Blue Cross & Blue Shield Association, National Institute for Health Care Management, Arkansas Centers for Health Improvement and the Little Rock Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.


The Power List

Accounting

Agriculture & Timber

Architecture & Engineering

Banking & Finance

Construction

Economic Development

Education

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Government

Health Care

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