Michael Freed
President & CEO
Priority Health
Michael P. Freed is the President & CEO of Priority Health, Michigan’s second largest health plan. He also serves as the executive vice president of Spectrum Health, one of the nation’s top 10 integrated health systems. Mike has extensive health care management experience and is an expert on innovative approaches to payment reform. He has led consumer transparency efforts at Spectrum Health, which was among the first health systems in the country to post online average prices for many common procedures.
As President & CEO, Priority Health, Mike is responsible for the strategic direction, development and overall operation of Priority Health. The state of Michigan selected Priority Health’s HMO as the essential health benefits benchmark plan for all individual and small group plans in Michigan, beginning January 1, 2014. The health plan’s products have been consistently recognized among top health plans nationally for quality and member satisfaction. Priority Health has offices in four Michigan cities—Farmington Hills, Grand Rapids, Holland and Traverse City.
Mike is a veteran of health care industry management. In 1995, he joined the Butterworth Health System leadership team as vice president of finance and CFO. He was named executive vice president, corporate resources, and chief financial officer, Spectrum Health, when Butterworth Health System merged with Blodgett Memorial Medical Center in 1997. He was named President & CEO of Priority Health in 2012.
Prior to joining Spectrum Health, Mike was treasurer and CFO of Central New England HealthAlliance in Leominster, Mass., and of CentMass Systems Corp., a predecessor of Central New England HealthAlliance. Before that, he was vice president and CFO of HealthAmerica Pennsylvania, a Pittsburgh-based HMO owned by Coventry Corp. Mike also served as director of finance and CFO of Saratoga Hospital in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., as well as senior accountant with KPMG Peat Marwick in Albany, N.Y. He earned his bachelor’s degree from The State University of New York (SUNY) Plattsburgh and became a certified public accountant in New York in 1982.
Mike is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Financial Executives International and the national board of directors for Healthcare Financial Management Association. In addition he is a member of the board of directors for the Alliance of Community Health Plans.