Ricardo Johnson Biography

Ricardo R. Johnson is the Executive Vice President of Strategic Growth for CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield (CareFirst), one of the nation’s largest not-for-profit healthcare organizations. Ricardo leads a division focused on driving alignment and growth throughout CareFirst to holistically fulfill the company’s mission of advancing accessible, affordable and equitable healthcare.

Ricardo’s team encompasses Marketing and Communications, Underwriting; P&L accountability for Commercial, Markets and Sales, Government Programs and Federal Employee Plan (FEP) Local Operations. This strategic alignment fosters organizational growth, evolution and accountability toward providing comprehensive healthcare for CareFirst’s members and communities.

Prior to his current position, Ricardo served in a variety of leadership roles at CareFirst. He began his career in the industry by practicing healthcare law and joined CareFirst in 2011 as Associate General Counsel. He then served as the Special Assistant to the CEO of CareFirst, where he laid the groundwork for what would become Healthworx in 2018.

Ricardo has also held a multitude of professional and nonprofit board positions throughout his career, including at Mother Seton Academy, La Salle University and Central Scholarship. He currently serves on the Greater Washington Board of Trade, the Greater Baltimore Committee Board, the Federal Employee Program Board of Managers, the Board of Trustees for the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore and as a Board Partner for the Greater Washington Partnership. In 2023, Governor Wes Moore named Ricardo a Commissioner for Maryland’s Health Services Cost Review Commission (HSCRC). In this role, he and other commissioners oversee payment rates for Maryland hospitals as well as Maryland’s Total Cost of Care Model.

Ricardo holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Maryland and an undergraduate degree from La Salle University.