Matt and Gail Palmgren
The husband of a missing Signal Mountain woman has been fired by BlueCross BlueShield from a high-ranking position.
Attorney Bryan Hoss confirmed that Matthew C. Palmgren, Pharm D., received a termination letter on Monday afternoon.
He had earlier been placed on administrative leave with pay.
Gail Palmgren, 44, has not been seen she dropped off the couple's two children and drove away in her red Jeep on April 30.
Sheriff Jim Hammond said major crimes detectives are working the case along with the Signal Mountain Police.
He said there has been no indication that a crime was committed, but he said, "We are following all leads."
Sheriff Hammond said, "It is highly unusual that it has been this long and her vehicle has not been spotted."
Sources said about a week prior to the disappearance of Gail Palmgren that Matt Palmgren flew to Pennsylvania to attend an insurance conference.
Sources said he left the conference without attending any of the sessions and joined a female BlueCross employee at another location, then they drove back to Chattanooga together after she allegedly bought a car there.
BlueCross officials said they could not confirm reports that the female BlueCross official has also been terminated.
Matt Palmgren joined BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee in 2009 as director of pharmacy programs for its government business and emerging markets business unit.
He was responsible for the pharmacy programs in BlueCross’ Senior Care Division, which serves Medicare Advantage and Part D members, and Volunteer State Health Plan, which oversees TennCare and Cover Tennessee programs.
At the time of his appointment, Dr. Terry Shea, director of pharmacy services, said, “Matt brings a great deal of experience to his new role here at BlueCross. We’re eager for him to share his ideas and innovations with us as we continue to strive for excellence in the government business sector.”
Before coming to BlueCross, Dr. Palmgren was the director of clinical pharmacy programs at Humana, Inc. in Louisville, Ky. There he helped develop Humana’s Medicare Part D formularies and helped implement their utilization management programs.
Prior to becoming director at Humana, he was the manager of pharmacy and emerging technologies. In the short time he was in this role, he integrated and expanded their pharmacy and therapeutics team, implementing clinical and fiscal programs to decrease cost trends including clinical programs, pharmaceutical contracting, and Medicare Part D and Medicare Advantage prescription drug plans.
From 2002 to 2004, Dr. Palmgren was the clinical services manager at BlueCross BlueShield of Alabama. There he developed and oversaw clinical and contracting teams to enhance their pharmacy interventions and supported all aspects of pharmacy operations.
He received his undergraduate degree from the University of South Florida and his doctor of pharmacy from Nova Southeastern University.
Gail Palmgren