Former MDCH Director Joins Consumers Mutual Insurance in Key Strategic Role

EAST LANSING, Mich., July 16, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Janet Olszewski, who managed $14 billion in annual resources during her tenure as Director of the Michigan Department of Community Health, is joining Consumers Mutual Insurance of Michigan as Senior Director for Strategic Initiatives and Public Policy, the statewide insurer announced today. She began her new role on July 15.

"Consumers Mutual Insurance was established to give Michigan consumers more choice in their health insurance options," Consumers Mutual Insurance CEO Dennis Litos said. "We are thrilled to have Janet's expertise and vision for the types of strategic initiatives that will take our operations – which are very young – to the next level, allowing us to eventually offer even more innovation to our members/owners."

Consumers Mutual Insurance began offering plans in 2013. The East Lansing-based insurer is the state's only Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan (CO-OP) – a health insurer operating much like a statewide credit union in which interests of members, not shareholders, control company decisions. Members, including individuals and small businesses, are owners of the new company. Health insurance CO-OPs were created by Congress to enhance competition in the new state-based competitive health insurance marketplace and provide options in markets that have been dominated by an individual or a few insurance companies.

Consumers Mutual Insurance is known for its unique offering of a comprehensive chronic disease management program in which office visits, copays and lab services are waived for 26 conditions, including heart disease, diabetes, depression and asthma. The chronic disease program is focused on providing individuals access to providers and prescription drugs to help members manage their disease.

"The state's health insurance landscape is advancing at an incredibly rapid pace right now, and Consumers Mutual Insurance is a driver in that change," Olszewski said. "I am excited to bring my background in the landscape of the state's health plan regulatory field to Consumers Mutual Insurance, where I'll be working with the excellent team already in place to develop initiatives that will strengthen our position and allow us to provide even more innovation to our members."

Olszewski joins Consumers Mutual Insurance following three years serving as a principal at Lansing-based Health Management Associates, Inc., where she assisted with strategic planning and positioning related to health reform and state health care developments. She served from 2003-10 as director of the Michigan Department of Community Health, a department with more than 4,000 employees; prior to that, she held director-level positions in the department's quality improvement and managed care divisions. She has also held positions at M-CARE and the Michigan Office of Services to the Aging.

She has served on a lengthy list of boards and commissions, including the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Working Group and the Michigan Health Policy Forum Advisory Board. Olszewski earned her bachelor's degree in sociology at Boston University and her master's of social work at the University of Michigan.

Consumers Mutual is a member-driven organization focused on the delivery of affordable health insurance, an outstanding benefit package and an exceptional customer experience. For more information, visit www.consumersmutual.org. Like Consumers on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ConsumersMutual. Follow on Twitter: twitter.com/consumersmutual. Connect on Google+, and follow Consumers Mutual's company page on LinkedIn.

SOURCE Consumers Mutual Insurance of Michigan