Mike Unhjem

Mike Unhjem is President and CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota.  He is a graduate of Jamestown College, Jamestown, N.D., and the University of North Dakota School of Law, Grand Forks, N.D.  He practiced law and was employed in banking and planned giving positions before joining Blue Cross Blue Shield as Legal Counsel and Vice President of Corporate Affairs in 1986.  He assumed his current position in September 1991.

In 1974, while a senior at Jamestown College, Mike became the youngest person ever elected to the North Dakota Legislature.  He served 12 years in the North Dakota House of Representatives, holding a seat on the Appropriations Committee the entire time.

During those legislative years, Mike developed an interest in health care issues.  He became an active volunteer in the North Dakota Mental Health Association and eventually was elected President of the National Mental Health Association in 1988.  He participated in drafting the legislation that created the Comprehensive Health Association of North Dakota (CHAND), the health insurance program subsidized by the state of North Dakota for people who are medically uninsurable.  He also served on the Jamestown Hospital Board of Directors for 10 years.

Mike was Chairman of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association Board of Directors in 2001 and 2002, and served on the National Council on Disability following presidential appointment by President George Bush and confirmation by the United State Senate.  He currently serves on a number of corporate and volunteer boards, and as a Commissioner on the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws and the North Dakota Commission on Uniform State Laws.

Mike is originally from Crosby, N.D.  He is the father of two daughters and a son.