Why is the Medibank share price rising on Thursday?

The Medibank Private Ltd (ASX: MPL) share price is up more than 1% after the private health insurer’s leadership update.

This rise comes on a day when the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is up around 0.5%. Interestingly, the NIB Holdings Limited (ASX: NHF) share price is down by 1% at the time of writing.

Leadership changes at Medibank

Medibank has announced a number of changes that are aimed at ensuring the focus and leadership of the company continue to “evolve to meet the needs of its customers and a changing health system.” The leadership of the private health insurer can have an important influence on its operational performance and ultimately the Medibank share price.

Mark Rogers will continue to be the chief financial officer and head of group strategy, with the addition of procurement to his portfolio of responsibilities.

Milosh Milisavljevic will take on the expanded role of chief customer officer, and this will be for both the Medibank and ahm brands.

Dr Andrew Wilson will continue in the role of chief executive of Amplar Health. He’s responsible for Medibank’s “growing role as a health services provider.”

Rob Deeming is taking on a new role, to be the group lead of ‘digital and ventures’, to accelerate its growth in health through the development of digitally-led health products and services.

Medibank said it’s going through a recruitment process to find someone to lead its data and technology, though Kylie Williamson will continue to act in this role in the interim.

Mei Ramsay will continue to be in charge of trust, legal and compliance, as well as being the company secretary.

Kylie Bishop will be in charge of people, spaces and sustainability, which includes ESG focus areas.

A new role is being created for policy, advocacy and reputation, which will be Meaghan Telford’s responsibility.

All of these changes will be effective as of 31 July 2023, so it’ll be interesting to see how the Medibank share price performs in August and beyond.

CEO comments

The Medibank CEO David Koczkar explained why the company was making these changes:

As an organisation we are working hard to continue to meet the needs of our customers, while ensuring that we are contributing to improving health access and outcomes for people in Australia

We know that digitisation has a big role to play in the future of health, and as a result we are introducing a dedicated role to the executive leadership team in this space.

We are also establishing a dedicated customer trust team. Customers expect more of the organisations they interact with, and we want to ensure we are meeting this challenge.

We are also adding a new role to the executive leadership team focused on health policy, advocacy and reputation, recognising the increasing role we play with health stakeholders in delivering more for the community.

Our strategy remains focused on delivering for our customers, and these changes will enable us to continue to best meet their needs in the future.

Is the Medibank share price a buy?

The private health insurer has recently been rated as a buy (overweight) by the broker JPMorgan with a price target of $3.80, according to reporting by The Australian.

A price target is a guess by the analyst of where they think the share price will be in 12 months from now. The current price target implies a possible rise of 8%, and then any dividends would be a bonus on top of that.

If the company can keep growing its policy numbers, it could have a positive future.