IBC’s Dan Hilferty retires from Philly’s dominant insurer, making way for its first African American leader

Daniel J. Hilferty, an 'indefatigable civic leader in Philadelphia, on Tuesday announced his retirement as chief executive of Independence Health Group, the region’s largest health insurer.

While leading Independence during a period of growth, including the rollout of the Affordable Care Act, Hilferty, 64, played central roles in raising money for Pope Francis’ visit to Philadelphia in 2015 and the Democratic National Convention the next year.

“Over the last 10 years, I have had the honor to work with a team of outstanding executives and employees to make Independence and its subsidiaries into the national health care leader it is today. It has been an incredible privilege to serve our millions of members, our customers, and the community,” said Hilferty, who is leaving on Dec. 31. but will serve as an advisor for a year.

Hilferty’s successor is Gregory E. Deavens, who joined Independence as its chief financial officer in 2017 after serving in senior positions in the life insurance industry. Deavens, 59, becomes the first African American to take over the insurer. He will lead company that has seen its revenues more than double from $9.3 billion in 2010 to $19 billion in 2019. And much of the increase came from the growth of its Medicaid subsidiary, AmeriHealth Caritas.

Independence employs 4,200 in the Philadelphia area and 11,500 nationally. The health insurer is among the region’s most prominent companies not just because it’s a sponsor of efforts like the Broad Street Run and Indego, the city’s bike-sharing system, but also because its dominant position in health insurance puts it at the intersection of employers, families and health-care providers.

As Deavens takes over, challenges looms, with the potential unwinding of the Affordable Care Act at the Supreme Court. Closer to home, there’s the possible arrival of a new insurance competitor if Thomas Jefferson University completes its acquisition of Health Partners Plans Inc., a nonprofit Medicaid insurer, and decides to expand into commercial insurance with its own network of hospitals and doctors.

And then there’s the ever-surging cost of health care, which has made employer-based health insurance more expensive and led employers to put more costs on their workers.

Ed Hanway. a former CEO of Cigna, knows both Hilferty and Deavens, who was head of investor relations at Cigna in the early 2000s, and said he was pleased to hear that Deavens will take over from Hilferty. He described Deavens as unflappable and a great communicator.

As to the possibility of new competition from Jefferson, Hanway said: “That might make it more interesting, but IBC has tremendous strengths and a lot of great people. Whether they are competing against Aetna, Cigna, or UnitedHealthcare, or Health Partners, they will be successful. They will be very formidable.”

That fact that Hilferty’s successor is African American is no surprise to Sharmain Matlock-Turner, who said she and Hilferty have talked about the importance of African American leadership. As to the choice of Deavens to succeed Hilferty, she said, “the organization has picked someone who reflects his values.”

Hilferty has been CEO of Independence for 10 years. For a long stretch of his career at the company, he led AmeriHealth Caritas, its Medicaid managed care subsidiary, which now operates in 10 states.

Beyond his responsibilities at Independence, Hilferty has become an indispensable civic leader, according to business community colleagues.

“Dan is absolutely one of the most outstanding business and civic leaders of this generation," said David L. Cohen, senior executive vice president at Comcast Corp. “You can’t think of an important project that was happening in Philadelphia where the mayor, the governor, the chair of the Chamber of Commerce have not gone to Dan Hilferty and said, 'Can you help?” And you can’t think of a situation where Dan has said no.”

Drexel University president John Fry described Hilferty as “an incredibly humane and good guy.”

Fry said that when he was dealing with the closure of Hahnemann University Hospital, which was the main teaching location for the Drexel University College of Medicine, he could Hilferty and got more than wise counsel. “I got advice, and I also got solace, commitment, and I got solidarity,” Fry said.

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