Dawn Maroney knew early on she wanted to join the new health insurance company John Kao was building to address what he saw as a fragmented U.S. system.
The two had previously worked together at Downey-based senior healthcare specialist CareMore Medical Enterprises Inc., where Kao served as president and Maroney was chief sales, product and marketing officer, before the company was sold to Indianapolis-based WellPoint Inc. for $800 million.
“I said, ‘John, if you’re really recreating another CareMore but in a privatized world, I want to join,’” Maroney told the Business Journal.
Kao founded Alignment Healthcare Inc. in 2013 as a provider of Medicare Advantage plans for seniors, with Maroney joining a year later as president. Since then, Alignment has evolved from a startup into a $3.4 billion public company after raising $490 million in its 2021 IPO (Nasdaq: ALHC).
For more than a decade, Maroney has served as the No. 2 person of the company, overseeing day-to-day operations while also leading Alignment Health Plan, the company’s consumer-facing Medicare Advantage business acquired from Citizens Choice Health Plan.
Under her leadership, membership has expanded from about 8,000 members to nearly 285,000 across California, Arizona, Nevada, North Carolina and Texas. Maroney expects this to grow to over 1 million in the next decade or so.
The main driver for the growth is a proactive clinical model, according to Maroney. She added that the company has been at the “forefront” of AI with its virtual application platform, which allows members to access healthcare services remotely.
Maroney is featured in this week’s edition of the OC50, the Business Journal’s annual listing of the most influential local execs. This year’s edition highlights Orange County’s Most Prominent Businesswomen.
“The one thing about my leadership is not about titles—it’s about responsibility,” Maroney said. “In healthcare, every decision impacts a human life, and that creates a different level of accountability.”
39 Years in Healthcare Insurance
This September will mark 39 years in healthcare for Maroney.
She said she entered the field after losing her grandparents at an early age, which prompted her to volunteer with seniors.
“I just always wanted to have grandparents and that connection with them,” Maroney said.
Maroney, who grew up in Los Angeles and has lived in Orange County since her early 20s, began her career in healthcare insurance at SecureHorizons, a Medicare Advantage plan offered by UnitedHealth Group.
She has held leadership roles at Health Net, later acquired by Centene Corp., and Care1st Health Plan, a provider-founded insurer in Monterey Park that was sold to Blue Shield of California for $1.2 billion.
By 2005, Maroney joined CareMore, where one lesson from the company’s late founding physician, Dr. Sheldon Zinberg, left a lasting impression.
“He would always say, ‘Dawn, if you put patients before profit, you shall profit,’” Maroney said.
A year after Maroney joined, Kao became president of CareMore.
“Needless to say, we took that vision and philosophy and spread that through the company, and then that company sold,” Maroney said.
The “Aha” Moment for Alignment
Early on in Alignment, Maroney said that there were days when they had to invest their own money into the company.
“We knew that the company had the potential for greatness,” she said. “Not everybody that was in the company in the beginning stayed because they didn’t have the discipline or the belief that it would turn around, and it did.”
Maroney said there were a few “aha” moments for Alignment.
One came in 2014, when Greenwich, Connecticut–based investment firm General Atlantic LLC invested $125 million in the company, followed by a $115 million investment from Warburg Pincus LLC.
Another milestone was taking the company public in 2021.
While Maroney spent years at publicly traded companies, this was the first time she helped guide the company through the IPO process.
“It’s a different experience when you’re basically at the top,” she said.
Besides members and shareholders, Maroney said that her main priority as chief executive of Alignment Health Plan is to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), whether it involves overseeing contracts across multiple states or pharmacy management.
Part of her role involves lobbying.
“I’ve stayed in this field the entire time in my healthcare field, not only because of loving seniors, but I actually really love working with the federal government on finding innovative ways of driving unique products, as well as having a seat at the table and discussing what future policy can be,” Maroney said.
Last July, she spoke before Congress in support of Medicare Advantage, which is currently undergoing significant changes, including rising premiums for Part D prescription drug plans.
Maroney said much of the backlash surrounding Medicare Advantage stems from concerns that the program is overfunded.
“It’s not just because people want to pick on Medicare Advantage,” Maroney said. “We’re in a budget crisis.”
Maroney believes one of the biggest opportunities to improve healthcare access would be requiring hospitals that accept traditional fee-for-service Medicare to also accept Medicare Advantage patients, regardless of whether they have a contract.
“That will help Medicare Advantage markets in the rural areas nobody’s going in,” she said.
Making Space for Female Leaders
Maroney said she was the only woman in her group when she presented before Congress.
She was also the only woman present when Alignment celebrated its Nasdaq debut by ringing the closing bell.
“We don’t want to be in a position where you have to say, ‘I’m a female leader,’” she said.
“We want to be treated equally, but if that’s what it takes to be in a room, I will take being the female leader to be in the room and get our voice out.”
Maroney said that her goal as a leader is to create an impact that outlives her.
One of her priorities is ensuring that all employees plan for their future by investing in themselves, whether through personal development or financial savings.
A professor Maroney is working with in leadership courses at Harvard Business School emphasizes the importance of taking 30 minutes a day for yourself.
“If you can do that, you are actually giving back to your employer because you’re improving your own skill set,” she said.
