Tom Bowser
Tom Bowser
President and Chief Executive Officer
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City (Blue KC) is Missouri’s largest health insurer in the Kansas City area, serving nearly one million members in the 30 counties of Northwestern Missouri, plus Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas. Blue KC is the ninth largest private company in Kansas City, with annual revenues of nearly $2 billion, a net worth of nearly $500 million, and 1,000 employees.
Mr. Bowser has been in the Blue Cross and Blue Shield System 38 years, including 28 years with Blue KC, eight years with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma, and two years with the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. He received his B.S. degree in 1968 from the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kan.
Since Mr. Bowser became CEO and president in 2001, revenues have doubled, net worth has tripled and membership has continued to steadily increase. Blue KC is consistently recognized as a top performing plan in the BCBS System, with service indicators in the top quartile. The company has developed the region’s most comprehensive health and wellness program, A Healthier You™, designed to help its members become more accountable for their health.
Mr. Bowser is now serving as the chairman of the national Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, which covers 102 million members and has annual revenues in excess of $300 billion. He is also chairman of TriWest Healthcare Alliance, a consortium of Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans serving 2.5 million military families in the Western United States.
Mr. Bowser is the past chairman of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce and past chairman of the Kansas City Area Development Council. He is also a board member of the Civic Council of Greater Kansas City, Midwest Research Institute, and vice chairman of BCS Financial Corporation. He is a member of the KU Endowment Association and is on the advisory board of the KU Edwards Campus.
Mr. Bowser lives in Olathe with his wife, Judy, a long-time high school music teacher in Tulsa and Kansas City. Son, Chris Bowser, M.D., is an emergency medicine physician and practices in the Saint Luke’s Hospital System in Kansas City. Daughter, Beth Bowser Scruggs, is a labor delivery nurse in Tulsa.