BlueCross BlueShield of Vermont announced Monday that its president and CEO, Don George, plans to retire at the end of 2025 after 16 years in the role.  

George’s departure comes as health care costs are soaring across the state. Since 2020, BlueCross BlueShield members’ claims have increased 17% a year, according to an email George sent lawmakers and state officials in January.

“Blue Cross VT spent more on healthcare than we brought in, forcing our use of member reserves to bridge the gap,” he wrote in the January letter. “The extreme and lengthy cost surge has resulted in our reserves falling to a concerning level.”

In July 2024, those declining reserves put the insurer in jeopardy of insolvency, and led it to ask a state oversight board for yet another premium increase. 

The company has lost $100 million every year for five of the past six — $13 million of which it lost in October 2024 alone. That month saw the highest paid claims in the company’s history, George wrote in his January letter.

BlueCross BlueShield insures roughly a third of Vermonters. In 2023, employees in Vermont paid the most for their employer-based health insurance premiums than in any other state in the country, according to KFF. 

George intends to stay on as CEO through the end of 2025, which he told lawmakers would be “a difficult yet critical year for our healthcare system” in his January letter. 

“My decision to retire was not an easy one to make, but I know it’s the right time,” he said in a Monday press release from BlueCross BlueShield Vermont.  

BlueCross BlueShield Vermont’s board of directors said the organization plans to begin recruiting for someone to fill George’s position immediately in the hopes that there will be ample time through the rest of the year to phase in the new leader.

George was unavailable for additional comment on Monday.