Ms. Boudreaux will be responsible for establishing and maintaining all customer-facing business processes and services within the UnitedHealthcare businesses. She replaces Dave Wichmann, who has assumed the position of executive vice president of UnitedHealth Group and president of UnitedHealth Group Operations. Ms. Boudreaux will report to Stephen J. Hemsley, president and chief executive officer of UnitedHealth Group.

“We could not have asked for a better executive than Gail Boudreaux to step in and run the Commercial Markets Group,” said Mr. Hemsley. “She is an exceptional senior leader with a wealth of health care experience. Gail’s strong business knowledge of the health care industry, coupled with her outstanding leadership skills and focus on service quality, will drive further positive change at UnitedHealth Group and help us deliver improved service and innovation to our customers.”

As executive vice president of HCSC, Ms. Boudreaux was responsible for the Illinois, Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans and several HCSC subsidiaries. Prior to that, Ms. Boudreaux was president of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, a division of HCSC and the largest health insurance company in Illinois.