Name: Kenneth Tanji
Previous title: Executive vice president and CFO, Prudential Financial
New title: Director, Centene
Tanji joined Centene’s board of directors on Feb. 20, according to a Tuesday press release from the insurer. He’ll serve on the company’s audit and compliance committee.
He previously held the CFO role at Prudential Financial for six years, and worked at the financial services firm in a number of leadership roles across the company’s insurance, health insurance, annuities and investment management businesses since 1988.
Tanji’s appointment brings the number of members on Centene’s board up to 12. Centene also added to its board last year when it named Thomas Greco, former chief executive of Advance Auto Parts and Frito-Lay North America, as a new director.
The board expansion comes after the insurer beat Wall Street expectations on revenue and earnings in the fourth quarter. Centene raked in $3.3 billion in profit last year, compared with $2.7 billion in 2023, due to membership growth in its Affordable Care Act exchange plans.
However, the insurer’s focus on government healthcare programs — including its role as the nation’s biggest Medicaid managed care organization — could pose a challenge as Congress looks to slash funding for the safety-net insurance program to pay for President Donald Trump’s tax cuts.
The House narrowly advanced a budget resolution on Tuesday that asks the Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees Medicare and Medicaid, to find at least $880 billion in cuts.
Meanwhile, more generous subsidies for health plans on the ACA exchanges are set to expire at the end of this year without congressional action, which could increase premiums for beneficiaries and grow the number of uninsured.
