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Mickey Herbert, President and CEO of ConnectiCare and Executive Vice President, HIP Health Plan of New York
Biography:
Mickey Herbert holds responsibilities as both President and CEO of ConnectiCare and as Executive Vice President of HIP Health Plan of New York. ConnectiCare is currently ranked number five by U.S. News and World Report in its list of America’s Best Health PlansŪ and number one in the state of Connecticut. ConnectiCare, a health plan based in Farmington, Connecticut was acquired by HIP in 2005. Mr. Herbert's senior roles reflect the extensive amount of knowledge and experience he brings to both organizations.

Prior to joining HIP and ConnectiCare in 2005, Mr. Herbert was the founder and CEO for 22 years of Physicians Health Services (PHS), a publicly-traded health plan serving the tri-state region of Connecticut, New York and New Jersey. Under his leadership, PHS grew to serve over 550,000 members. An eminent figure in national HMO affairs, Mr. Herbert is a past chair of both the American Association of Health Plans and the former American Managed Care and Review Association. Before founding PHS, he was Vice President of InterStudy, a national health policy research firm. Herbert also served as President, CEO and majority owner of the Bridgeport Bluefish Baseball Club, an independent professional baseball team in the Atlantic Professional Baseball League.

A dedicated worker on behalf of the community, Mr. Herbert serves on the boards of numerous organizations throughout Connecticut including the Barnum Museum, the Barnum Festival, the Connecticut Business and Industry Association (CBIA), the School for Ethical Education and the University of Connecticut Foundation. He is a past Chairman of the Bridgeport Regional Business Council and a member of its Executive Committee. He is also the immediate past Chairman of the Greater Bridgeport Area Foundation.

In 2006, Mr. Herbert was named co-chair of the Connecticut Health Insurance Policy Council formed to study Connecticut’s healthcare system and to create recommendations on how to improve that system. In 2007, he was appointed to the HealthFirst Connecticut Authority commissioned by the Connecticut General Assembly during the 2007 legislative session to research ways to move Connecticut towards expanding health care coverage.

Mickey Herbert earned a B.A. at Swarthmore College and an M.B.A. at Harvard University. He is a graduate of a special HMO Fellowship Training Program at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and was a Senior Fellow of the Executive Program in Managed Care at the University of Missouri in Kansas City.

Areas of Expertise:
Mickey Herbert is President and CEO of ConnectiCare Health Plans based in Farmington, Connecticut. ConnectiCare is currently ranked number six nationally by U.S. News and World Report in its list of America’s Best Health Plans.

Mr. Herbert brings more than 30 years of experience in healthcare. In 1971, Mickey Herbert began working with one of the leading proponents of healthcare reform and healthcare management organizations at that time, Dr. Paul Elwood. It was then that the Nixon administration working together with a Democratic-controlled congress, introduced competition into America’s Health Care Delivery System by providing federal grants to start new non-profits called HMOs or Health Maintenance Organizations.

Soon after Mickey Herbert moved to Bridgeport, Connecticut, he opened Physicians Health Services (PHS), a health plan serving the tri-state area. For 22 years, he served as founder and CEO of Physicians Health Services, which was publicly-traded and grew to serve over 550,000 members.

An eminent figure in national HMO affairs, Mr. Herbert is a past chair and currently sits on the board of the American Association of Health Plans. In July 2006, the Connecticut Health Insurance Policy Council was formed to study the Connecticut’s health care system and to create recommendations on how to improve it. Mr. Herbert was named co-chair of this council and has spent the past two years studying and working to reform Connecticut’s healthcare system.

Mickey Herbert earned a B.A. at Swarthmore College and an M.B.A. at Harvard University.

Specific Subjects and Issues for Speaking Appearances & Media Inquiries
Health care plan management, trends in managed care/ health plans, innovation in health care plans and managed care, health care reform, health care reform in Connecticut.

Professional Achievement
Mickey Herbert holds multifaceted responsibilities as both Executive Vice President of HIP Health Plan of New York as well as President and CEO of ConnectiCare, a health plan acquired by HIP in 2005. ConnectiCare is currently ranked number six by U.S. News and World Report in its list of America’s Best Health PlansŪ. Mr. Herbert's senior roles reflect the extensive amount of knowledge and experience he brings to both organizations.

Prior to joining HIP and ConnectiCare in 2005, Mr. Herbert was the founder and CEO for 22 years of Physicians Health Services (PHS), a publicly-traded health plan serving the tri-state region of Connecticut, New York and New Jersey. Under his leadership, PHS grew to serve over 550,000 members. An eminent figure in national HMO affairs, Mr. Herbert is a past chair of both the American Association of Health Plans and the former American Managed Care and Review Association. Before founding PHS, he was Vice President of InterStudy, a national health policy research firm. Herbert also served as President, CEO and majority owner of the Bridgeport Bluefish Baseball Club, an independent professional baseball team in the Atlantic Professional Baseball League.

He is a past Chairman of the Bridgeport Regional Business Council and a member of its Executive Committee. He is also the immediate past Chairman of the Greater Bridgeport Area Foundation. In 2006, Mr. Herbert was named co-chair of the Connecticut Health Insurance Policy Council formed to study Connecticut’s healthcare system and to create recommendations on how to improve that system.

Educational background
1967, Swarthmore College, BA
1969, Harvard University, M.B.A.
1976, Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, HMO Fellowship Training Program

Background
Mickey Herbert, President and CEO of ConnectiCare, is an extremely accomplished and successful executive in health care plan management and a nationally recognized expert, with over 30 years of first-hand experience, on health care reform and public policy relating to health care plans at the state and federal level.