AHIP CEO Matthew Eyles Moving On

Matthew D. Eyles, president and CEO of AHIP, the health insurers’ trade and lobbying organization, is leaving the job on Oct. 2, 2023.

AHIP announced yesterday that the AHIP Board of Directors had accepted Eyles’ resignation, which was characterized as a personal decision, and would begin a national search for a replacement.

In a LinkedIn post this afternoon, Eyles said that “leading AHIP has been the professional honor of a lifetime, and I have valued and savored every moment.” Eyles also praised AHIP, saying “it will continue to be one of the nation’s top trade associations, and I have great faith and comfort knowing your efforts will continue guiding greater health.”

Eyles became president and CEO on June 1, 2018, and he held other positions at the organization starting in 2015.

Notwithstanding the COVID-19 pandemic, his five years leading AHIP have been relatively quiet and free of controversy, in contrast to the three-year tenure of his predecessor, Marilyn Tavenner, when three major insurers — Humana, Aetna, and UnitedHealth Group — left the AHIP organization and seeded some doubts the organization’s future.

Among the first items mentioned in the list of Eyles’ accomplishments in the AHIP announcement of his departure was the growth of Medicare Advantage. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the proportion of Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans grew from 37% in 2018 to 50% this year.

In a LinkedIn post four months ago, Eyles said the growth in Medicare Advantage is “truly cause to celebrate. Medicare Advantage’s popularity and success is a prime example of the government and free market working together to deliver lower costs, more choices, and better outcomes for now so many people.”

When Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued rules for risk adjustment in January, Eyles was quoted in an AHIP press release as saying the rule was “unlawful and fatally flawed, and it should have been withdrawn instead of finalized.” But he praised the final rate notice that came out in March.

The other accomplishments listed in yesterday’s press release include eliminating the health insurance tax, legislation curbing surprise medical bills and extending the Affordable Care Act subsidies through 2025.