Covered California has officially appointed Theivanai Palaniappan as its new chief data and insights officer.

Palaniappan is a highly accomplished executive with over 20 years of experience in building and leading enterprise-wide data analytics functions across multiple industries, including financial services and health care. She joins Covered California from Oscar Health, where she served as vice president and head of Data. In that role, she led a team of 50 data scientists, analysts and program managers to scale operational models, improve analytical capabilities and deploy actionable insights. Her work focused on leveraging data science and advanced analytics to drive efficiency, optimize provider networks and enhance the member experience.

“Theivanai brings years of valuable experience to the team and has a proven track record of success with large-scale data teams and projects,” said Covered California Executive Director Jessica Altman. “We are excited to bring her talents and skills to the organization to help us advance our mission of providing every Californian with high-quality health insurance, and we are thrilled to have her on the team.”

Prior to Oscar Health, Palaniappan spent more than two decades at Wells Fargo, where she held several senior leadership positions, including senior vice president of Enterprise Risk Analytics, Mortgage Risk Analytics and Enterprise Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty Analytics. At Wells Fargo, she successfully built and managed teams, developed data-governance programs and drove organization-wide initiatives to improve operational efficiency, mitigate risk and enhance customer satisfaction.

“It’s an honor and a thrill to join this incredible organization that is committed to making a positive impact for all Californians,” Palaniappan said. “I’m excited to work with the wonderful Data team at Covered California and to apply my passion for crunching data toward making a meaningful difference in the lives of families across California.”

Palaniappan began her career in software engineering in India before moving to the United States, where she earned her Ph.D. in Finance from Columbia Business School.

As Covered California’s chief data and insights officer, Palaniappan will be responsible for leading the organization’s data strategy, governance, and analytics functions. She will play a critical role in ensuring decision-making is data driven and in empowering Covered California to better serve consumers and stakeholders.

Covered California is the state’s health insurance marketplace, where Californians can find affordable, high-quality insurance from top insurance companies. Covered California is the only place where individuals who qualify can get financial assistance on a sliding scale to reduce premium costs. Consumers can then compare health insurance plans and choose the plan that works best for their health needs and budget. Depending on their income, some consumers may qualify for the low-cost or no-cost Medi-Cal program.

Covered California is an independent part of the state government whose job is to make the health insurance marketplace work for California’s consumers. It is overseen by a five-member board appointed by the governor and the Legislature. For more information about Covered California, visit www.CoveredCA.com