Nicholas Brecker.

INDIANAPOLIS—Anthem, Inc. (NYSE: ANTM) announced today that Nicholas (Nick) Brecker has been selected as president of Anthem’s specialty business, which includes vision among other categories. While Anthem publicly announced this promotion today, it was announced internally to Anthem associates when it went into effect on Wed., Aug. 19, 2015.

An Anthem employee for 11 years, Brecker served most recently as vice president of distribution for all specialty business areas and formerly as president of both dental and life/disability.

Brecker will report to Pam Kehaly, president of Anthem Inc.’s specialty business and west region. While Kehaly previously held the position Brecker has just assumed, her role has been expanded where she now leads the specialty business as well as the eight states that make up the commercial west region, which include California, Colorado, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, Nevada, and Wisconsin, an Anthem spokesperson confirmed for VMail.

“We’ve seen profound changes in health insurance and specialty benefits in the last decade, and ensuring affordability and high quality remain our top priorities,” said Kehaly. “With Nick’s extensive experience and knowledge of the market, we are well-positioned to continue setting new standards of excellence for years to come.”

In addition to vision, Anthem’s specialty business also includes dental, life/disability, workers’ compensation, voluntary business areas, and more than 17 million members.

Before joining Anthem, Brecker served as senior vice president of business development at ABD Insurance and Financial Services, Inc., a leading regional insurance broker. He also spent more than 19 years at MetLife, where he worked in several key leadership positions in that company’s institutional business organization, which provides specialty benefits for local group and national account employers.

Brecker has a bachelor’s degree in Business Economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is based in Anthem’s Woodland Hills, Calif., office.

In July 2015, Anthem announced that it would acquire Cigna Corp. for $54.2 billion. The company changed its corporate name from WellPoint last year.