---African American CEO in Boston, Cleve Killingsworth, resigns from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts---The Board of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (BCBSMA) announced that it has accepted the resignation of President and Chief Executive Officer Cleve Killingsworth effective March 15th. Killingsworth will remain available to the company as needed to ensure a smooth transition.Killingsworth joined BCBSMA in February 2004 as President and Chief Operating Officer after 30-plus years in the health care industry. He became CEO in July 2005."It's been an honor and privilege to work with such a talented group of people who are deeply committed to improving the quality and affordability of health care," Killingsworth said. "I look forward now to moving the discussion of quality and affordability to a national level, where I believe my experience can be of value." Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts provides coverage to more than 3 million members, 2.5 million in Massachusetts. Killingsworth is a founding member of the Executive Leadership Council—an independent, non partisan, non-profit corporation in Washington, D.C., that provides African-American executives with a leadership advisory forum on business, economic, and public policy issues.

About Cleve L. Killingsworth

Cleve became President and CEO in July, 2005. He joined BCBSMA in 2004 as President and Chief Operating Officer. During his 30-plus years in the health care industry, Cleve has earned a reputation as an innovative manager, dynamic teacher, and insightful analyst.

Prior to coming to Massachusetts, Cleve was President and CEO of Health Alliance Plan (HAP) in Detroit, one of Michigan's largest, most experienced managed care companies. Under Cleve's leadership, HAP provided value to its more than 500,000 members by fostering patient-centered relationships between health care delivery systems, practitioners, and health plans to improve quality. In addition to his HAP leadership, Cleve also served as the Senior Vice President of Insurance and Managed Care for Henry Ford Health System.

Prior to joining HAP, Cleve served as President of Kaiser Permanente's Central East Division.

Cleve formerly served as Senior Vice President of health care operations for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Rochester where he oversaw medical affairs, utilization analysis, network development and provider contracting for the health care operations group. He also served as President of the Genesee Valley Group Health Association.

Cleve holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Master of Public Health degree from Yale University.

Cleve is a faculty member of the Harvard School of Public Health and serves on the Harvard Medical School Board of Fellows.

He serves on the boards of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation, Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, Carroll School of Management at Boston College, Jobs for Massachusetts, National Center for Healthcare Leadership, National Institute for Health Care Management and The Travelers Companies, Inc. Cleve is a trustee of The MITRE Corporation, Boston University and The Museum of Fine Arts Boston, as well as a member of the Corporation of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is an overseer of TIAA-CREF.