Maria Proulx: Dedicated to Making Health Care Affordable

Maria Proulx is now president of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in NH and succeeds Lisa Guertin, who retired after 32 years with the company. Proulx has risen through the company’s ranks, most recently serving as regional vice president of sales for the NH plan.

However, Proulx started out as an attorney. Raised in Dover by a father who worked in state government and served as a state representative and a mother who ran a daycare, Proulx grew up with six brothers and five sisters. While money was tight, she says they had good health insurance through her dad’s job. “I saw how important that was for me and my family growing up,” she says. “I want to do this well for other families who don’t make a lot of money.”

A political science major at UNH, Proulx decided law school was a better route for her, and she clerked for the NH Supreme Court for two years and then worked at the Orr & Reno law firm. “My journey to Anthem was happenstance,” she says, as her husband recommended she join the company, and a partner at a law firm encouraged her.  

Proulx says she had strong mentors throughout her career. “I was fortunate to work with great leaders who pushed me to get out of my comfort zone,” she says. “Lisa [Guertin] taught me to know when to say yes and how to say no,” Proulx says.
She started out negotiating large contracts for Anthem in NH and eventually headed the company’s product division. “I developed a workforce well-being strategy across Anthem that looks at the physical, emotional, social and financial health of a person,” Proulx says.

Proulx says Anthem is working with health care providers to move away from a fee-for-service system to value-based care.

“If we are successful, we will create a health care system in New Hampshire that provides the access people need and addresses the health care challenges that we face,” she says.

“With the use of digital technology, if we want to revise or roll out a new program, we can do that through our app,” she says, noting that includes access to telemedicine for mental health services.

Proulx serves on several boards and says she decompresses by running and playing in a weekly women’s soccer league.

“For me, my mental well-being is held together by getting out there and making sure I stay active. Running in the morning clears my head,” she says, while soccer “allows me to keep that competitive edge.”