2026 Outstanding Directors: Paul Gam
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota (BCBS) is the largest nonprofit health insurance company in Minnesota, with over 3 million members—a number it reached in the past decade.
Paul Gam, who retired from his role as CEO of Minneapolis-based Zurich Medical in 2025, says he became interested in board service because BCBS operates with the discipline of a large business and has a mission to serve and promote the health of the community. “The focus is not to drive profit for the investors … everything goes back to the members,” Gam says.
That was a new approach for Gam when he began his BCBS board service in 2017, since he spent 27 years in public accounting, corporate finance, and business development in for-profit businesses, including stints at medical device giants Medtronic and St. Jude Medical. He started St. Jude’s first wholly owned subsidiary in China and served on its board of directors for nearly a decade. At Medtronic, Gam was director of Corporate Global Assurance, its internal audit team.
“I learned a lot about a lot of industries,” Gam explains, “and the ability to act with a very short timeline and a very changing dynamic.”
Gam’s finance background made him an ideal candidate to join BCBS, says Dana Erickson, chief executive officer. Paul “always will ask those questions about how an issue impacts our members, and how it impacts affordability and healthcare for the whole state of Minnesota,” she says.
Erickson recently asked Gam to sit on the Minnesota BCBS foundation board, as well as its corporate board. The insurer assigns only one director to its foundation board, and Gam fit the mold for this opportunity, Erickson explains, because of his financial acumen.
Gam’s audit experience came in clutch for BCBS after the insurer reported a $353 million operating loss last year. It reported rising costs in Medicare Advantage and Medicaid plans (which forced nonprofit insurer UCare to shutter), as well as increased spending on specialty drugs like GLP-1s as primary drivers of the results.
To avoid ongoing red ink, the board set aside a $150 million premium deficiency reserve designated to absorb claims expenses that are expected to outpace premium revenue.
In approaching his board service, Gam says he needs to know what’s happening across myriad industries, so when it’s time to provide guidance and fiduciary oversight for the state’s largest nonprofit health plan, he’s ready.
Kathleen Blatz, a former interim CEO and a board member of BCBS, says Gam has been a valuable member of the board. “He was very diligent,” she says. “His unique background enabled him to provide perspectives and insights about healthcare that were valuable to BCBS and the people we serve.”
People who know Gam say that he’s modest, soft-spoken, and a great listener. Sticking to his personal brand, Gam won’t list an outstanding individual achievement on BCBS’ board; instead, he applauds the work he can do with colleagues.
The board is a very collegial environment where it’s possible to disagree, he notes, which “should be the norm on all company boards,” Gam says; if board members worry about hurt feelings while working through issues, they’re less likely to be candid, even when they might have helpful insights.
Intellectual challenges and working with people from different backgrounds and industries are reasons Gam has always enjoyed board service. The other? Contributing to meaningful care for millions of Minnesotans.
“As a board to have good governance, not only do we need to compete, but we want the company to be able to provide coverages and services in a stable manner,” he says. “We can’t go up and down,” he says, but instead always take the long view.
Other Board Service
Summit Brewing: 1989–2000
MN World Trade Center Corp.: 1996–2000
St. Jude Medical Shanghai: 2003–2011
Zurich Medical: 2013–2025
Argon Medical Devices: 2021–2025
