Management Team Guiding our vision through values

George DeVries co-founded American Specialty Health Insurance Company’s parent company American Specialty Health (ASH) in 1987 with only a few thousand dollars, working from a second bedroom in his condominium. His goal was to develop specialty health care programs and to integrate them into traditional medical plans offered by Fortune 500 employers, insurance companies, and health plans.

Over the years, George has guided ASH’s growth to become one of the largest health services organizations in the nation, providing a broad range of musculoskeletal provider network, fitness and exercise, and well-being solutions.

When George first co-founded ASH, he focused on chiropractic provider network programs. The company has since added physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, podiatry, nutritionist, dietetic, acupuncture, naturopathy, and therapeutic massage provider networks.

George has led ASH to develop its own national provider group supported by other ASH subsidiaries including a national insurance carrier, a specialty health plan in California, an IPA in New York, and other organizations currently covering more than 57 million Americans. During this process, ASH achieved a variety of industry firsts, including:

• Creating the first specialty health plan for chiropractic

• Creating the first specialty health plan for acupuncture

• Creating the first national insurer for complementary health care

• Receiving the first national accreditations for a specialty ancillary provider health insurer, network, and/or health plan organization

After the company achieved these milestones, George personally guided the innovation process which has transformed ASH into one of the nation’s leading health services organizations. ASH developed comprehensive fitness programs, which includes the Silver&Fit® healthy aging and exercise program for Medicare plans; the Active&Fit® and Active&Fit Direct™ programs for commercial plans, insurance programs, and other groups; and the direct-to-consumer Active&Fit Now™ program. ASH fitness programs now serve more than 5.4 million members nationally.

George guided ASH as it created robust health management programs, including the EmpoweredDecisions!™ coaching, digital engagement, and learning platform that provides a non-pharmaceutical, non-invasive approach to pain management and opioid avoidance. ASH also developed a Virtual Physical Therapy program that enables physical therapists with advanced virtual technology to support patient recovery that is low-cost, high-touch, convenient, and clinically effective.

With offices in Carmel, Indiana (Indianapolis area); Fort Worth, Texas (Dallas area); and San Diego, California; ASH currently provides its programs for more than 57 million covered Americans; posted more than $607 million in 2021 revenues; and has more than 1,700 employees. ASH works with more than 572 health plans nationally.

George is the majority owner of ASH and its corporate subsidiaries; ASH is a privately-held company and there are no private equity or venture capital investors. Under George’s leadership, ASH has organically developed all of its products, revenues, and membership over the past 35+ years.

Considered an early expert in the integration of complementary health care into third-party reimbursement, George was appointed by President Clinton in 2000 to serve on the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy. He has testified before various congressional and legislative committees, and has published articles on complementary/alternative health care and health improvement in numerous trade publications.

Key honors bestowed on George include:

• San Diego Business Journal CEO of the Year in 2022

• 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award in Healthcare by the San Diego Business Journal

• America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) Innovators Award in 2004

• Ernst & Young National Entrepreneur of the Year for Health Sciences in 2000

• San Diego Entrepreneur of the Year for Health Sciences in 1997

• 21st Century National Leadership Award from Impact Urban America

As an innovator in corporate health and wellness, ASH has received numerous awards for its efforts, which include being named one of the Inc. 5000 Fastest-Growing Privately Held Companies 10 of the last 11 years, a National Business Group on Health “Best Employers for a Healthy Lifestyle” Gold winner, and one of the “Healthiest Employers in San Diego” by the San Diego Business Journal, among others.

George has also focused on developing an exceptional management team and work environment for his employees. As a result, ASH has been named one of the “Best Places to Work in San Diego” by both San Diego Magazine and the San Diego Business Journal. The company has also been named among the “100 Best Places to Work in Healthcare” by Modern Healthcare magazine.

George was named an Outstanding Alumnus in 2001 by the University of California San Diego (UCSD), where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree. In 2011, he was honored as one of “50 Distinguished Alumni” out of more than 130,000 alumni during UCSD’s 50th anniversary celebration.

He received his high school degree from the Culver Academies in Culver, Ind., a college preparatory boarding school, and currently sits on its Board of Trustees.

Gina is responsible for American Specialty Health’s (ASH) fitness lines of business, meeting the needs of health plans and employer group clients with a broad portfolio of fitness products. More than 5 million people across the United States are eligible for membership in subsidized programs including Silver&Fit® and Active&Fit Enterprise™. An additional 500+ million non-unique consumers are eligible for self-pay programs like Active&Fit Direct™ and Active&Fit Now™.

Having more than 31 years of leadership experience, Gina provides executive guidance for program delivery and data analysis, network management and recruitment, reimbursement and reconciliation, as well as client and customer services. Gina also steers fitness program implementation for new ASH clients, ensuring the company’s high ethical standards are applied to all benefits and services.

Gina joined ASH in 1996 in a customer service position, and over the last 20+ years, she excelled in a variety of fitness program roles with increasing responsibility. She was instrumental in the launch of the Silver&Fit program at its inception in 2007 and has helped mold the program into a premier senior fitness offering with annual member satisfaction ratings well above 90 percent. She also played a critical role in helping ASH go to market with its first lines of consumer-direct fitness products.

In 2009, Gina earned ASH’s highest honor—The Chairman’s Pursuit of Excellence Award—recognizing her integrity, work ethic, and team leadership that drove the company to positive results and key milestones.

Gina holds a bachelor’s degree in liberal studies from San Diego State University.

Jason oversees American Specialty Health’s (ASH) clinical lines of business that support 49+ million eligible health plan members through a variety of specialty provider networks. More than 100,000 network providers—ranging in specialties from in-clinic and virtual physical and occupational therapists to chiropractors, acupuncturists, and others—deliver quality care to network members that lead to customer satisfaction ratings above 90 percent year after year.

To ensure this quality care, Jason provides executive leadership for the management of all clinical claims, member and provider call center operations, medical necessity benefit administration activities, client services, appeals, grievances, eligibility research, and reconciliation, along with provider network administration and development of key corporate projects. Jason has also chaired and continues to provide oversight on several ASH committees that address compliance, key processes, and executive level appeals.

With more than 25 years of leadership experience, Jason has an extensive background in successfully building teams, creating scalable solutions, developing strong leaders, and delivering on commitments of operational and service excellence. During his time at ASH, Jason has held a variety of leadership positions including senior vice president of specialty network operations, vice president of Healthyroads® operations, as well as other operational management and oversight roles. He started his career in the health care industry in 1993 with a national insurer and has also spent time in the pharmaceutical benefit management space over the years.

For his continuous commitment to ASH success, Jason garnered the Chairman’s Pursuit of Excellence Award in 2012, recognizing his contributions over the years that significantly impacted the development, services, and results of the company.
Jason earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration with a focus in management from San Diego State University.

As chief health services officer at American Specialty Health (ASH), Dr. Douglas Metz oversees quality improvement initiatives, clinical services management, health services and outcomes research, clinical quality management and health quality improvement, wellness quality assurance, health affairs, health guideline and policy development, and accreditation functions of the organization. Dr. Metz is instrumental in supporting the development of numerous new products, research activities, and evidence-based quality initiatives at ASH—serving as lead health professional in support of developing the company’s clinical managed care and wellness and fitness programs. He has served in a senior clinical management role at ASH for more than 22 years.
During his 30-year career, Dr. Metz has served on many health industry organization boards and committees, including over 18 years on the URAC Health Standards Committee (6 years as chairman). He has also served on the Wellness Standards Development Committee for URAC, the Outcomes Measurement Committee of the Disease Management Association of America, the Research Advisory Committee for the Health Enhancement Research Organization (HERO), the Corporate Health Improvement Program (CHIP), and the Chief Medical Officer’s Committee of America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP).

Dr. Metz regularly contributes to articles published in various health journals including the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Health Affairs, Archives Internal Medicine, and others.

Dr. Metz graduated from the National College of Chiropractic, Lombard, Ill., where he received a bachelor’s degree in human biology and a doctor of chiropractic degree.

As chief legal officer for American Specialty Health (ASH), Erin oversees the company’s legal and regulatory functions and leads teams in the legal, regulatory program compliance, contracts, and regulatory strategic development departments. In her role as corporate secretary, Erin oversees all corporate governance functions and manages corporate compliance reporting to the board.

Erin brings with her more than 15 years of experience within the legal, corporate, and health care settings. Prior to joining American Specialty Health, Erin founded Hiley Law, a firm specializing in advising and litigation in the areas of health care, privacy, cybersecurity, employment law, and general business matters in San Diego, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas. Before founding Hiley Law, Erin held the position of vice president—assistant general counsel for Molina Healthcare, Inc., a Fortune 500 company specializing in Medicaid, Medicare, and ACA programs.

Erin received her B.A. from the University of California at Los Angeles prior to attending the University of the Pacific—McGeorge School of Law.

Erin is involved in diverse community and charitable projects and utilizes her free time to help make a difference in the lives she touches. Erin has been a mentor with and is a board member for Youth Mentoring Connection, and an officer of Cycles of Lives.

As chief technology officer for American Specialty Health (ASH), Jerome Bonhomme is responsible for leading the consumer technology department, which develops and maintains innovative consumer-facing applications. These vital capabilities help to activate and engage ASH’s many members, customers, providers and partners.

Jerome’s broad background as a software technology executive includes more than 20 years of experience in developing ecommerce platforms, applications and architecture to support customer engagement, product launches and marketing outreach. Prior to joining ASH, he was vice president of software engineering at Lytx in San Diego. There, he was responsible for all software engineering and product development, delivering a next generation platform and implementing new software engineering processes. While at Lytx he also filed several patents in the domain of geo-spatial data processing.

In 2004, Jerome joined Sony Electronics to develop the architecture and launch Sony’s online store: Store.Sony.com. Later he became part of Sony’s global technology team as director and chief architect for the global ecommerce platform, leading the creation of a single cohesive platform to serve each country with its own language and fulfillment capabilities. A graduate of the University Sorbonne in Paris, Jerome spent his early career working in technology positions in France and San Diego, helping to launch new products and develop new generations of technology platforms.

As chief product officer for American Specialty Health (ASH), Ali leads product strategy, user experience, and product design. His unique perspective and visionary leadership is pivotal in steering the company’s product portfolio and continuing its history of success.

Ali has more than 20 years of experience as a transformational design leader at technology companies including Monster, AOL, and Yahoo. Prior to joining ASH, Ali served as senior vice president of global digital customer experience for Citibank, focusing on maximizing customer engagement and satisfaction through emerging technologies. He also led the strategy and design of industry-leading apps for iOS and watchOS, making Citi the first bank on the Apple Watch.

Starting at ASH as associate vice president of UX/Design in 2016, Ali received multiple promotions during his first 7 years of service, and appointment to his current role marked a significant milestone on the company’s journey of continuous growth and innovation. Ali is also the recipient of numerous ASH corporate awards including its highest achievement—the Chairman’s Pursuit of Excellence Award for 2023.

Ali is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science. He also earned the coveted IDEO Design Master Facilitator certification. Ali is a seasoned keynote speaker and served on the Board of the Design Forward Alliance, a non-profit organization advancing human-centered innovation in the San Diego region.

Marcel M. Danko brings to American Specialty Health(ASH) over 30 years of accounting, finance, and general management experience in both publicly held and privately owned companies. As chief financial officer and treasurer, Marcel is responsible for the management and oversight of all financial matters for ASH.

Prior to joining ASH in 2020, Marcel was vice president finance and controller for General Atomics. In this role, he was responsible on a global basis for managing all accounting functions, including assuring compliance and timely reporting for both Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR). Marcel also served on the Board of Directors of multiple affiliated organizations providing insight and guidance within the corporate governance structure.

Marcel holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from California State University, Northridge and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).

As chief sales and marketing officer, Rik leads the strategic direction and execution of the sales and marketing functions of American Specialty Health (ASH). He oversees the development and implementation of the plans, policies, and programs designed to achieve the clinical, fitness, and virtual health revenue and growth objectives of ASH.  

With more than 32 years of experience, Rik drives revenue growth and profitability by identifying and pursuing new opportunities, markets, and customers. Rik joined American Specialty Health in 2010 and has a proven track record of achieving and exceeding sales goals and objectives. In 2019, Rik was awarded the company’s highest honor—The Chairman’s Pursuit of Excellence Award.  

Rik is highly customer centric, results oriented, and can adapt to changing market and business conditions. He has a history of building and maintaining strong relationships with existing and potential customers, partners, and industry influencers. He also leads, coaches, and motivates his team by fostering a culture of excellence, accountability, and innovation.  

Prior to ASH, Rik held various leadership positions at national and regional health plans including sales, account management, and underwriting. He was also a consultant at a national consulting firm and a senior sales director at a health care startup company.  

Rik earned his bachelor’s degree in managerial economics from the University of California, Davis.