An industry leader By now , it was perfectly clear that Lynch was a force to be reckoned with in the global insurance industry , and she was made Aetna ’ s first female President .
When Aetna was acquired by CVS Health in 2018 , via a US $ 70bn deal , she retained the role and subsequently led CVS Health through the storm of COVID- 19 the former leader , Larry Merlo , retired .
This is despite the fact that , in 2019 , Lynch suffered a serious accident when she flew over the handlebars of her bicycle onto a cobblestone street while on a cycling trip in the Netherlands . The event caused a broken hip and hand , and damaged her ribs . Lynch flew back to the US for surgery to pin her hip back together and used the hospital stay to view , first-hand , the customer experience offered by CVS .
By 2005 , Lynch was promoted to a newly-created position that combined leadership of Cigna Group Insurance and Cigna Dental . But , in 2009 , she felt ready to tackle new challenges and left to become president of Magellan Health Services .
Just three years later , Lynch joined Aetna as its Executive Vice President and Head of Speciality Products . Within months , she had led the merger between Aetna and Coventry Health Care , an industry-first , in that it was the largest healthcare acquisition at that time .
Awards and accolades Lynch is a member of the Business Roundtable , the World Economic Forum Global Coalition for Value in Healthcare Executive Board , and , in 2022 , was named by Fortune as the most inspirational CEO . She was also awarded an honorary Doctor of Commercial Science from the University of Hartford in 2022 and an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Becker College in 2015 .
Family life Lynch married Kevin M . Lynch in 2018 . He is the Founder , President , and CEO of the Quell Foundation , a non-profit organisation with a mission to remove the stigma around mental health and reduce the number of suicides , overdoses , and incarceration of those with mental illness . insurtechdigital . com 23