EDITOR’S NOTE: This article has been updated to reflect Steve Hamman’s proper title.

UPDATE 3/31/2022 (3:15 p.m.) —

A senior communications manager for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois confirmed the authenticity of the internal memo but did not address whether Steve Hamman was fired.

The email only read, “I can confirm the contents of our employee memo.”

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) — Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois (BCBSIL) President Steve Hamman is out, according to an internal memo Target 3 investigators obtained Thursday. Sources inside the BCBSIL headquarters in Chicago told reporters he was fired following our reporting that exposed the company is overcharging consumers while cutting down — sometimes cutting out — their provider options.

The screenshot of an email to Blue Cross staff says Hamman “left HCSC to pursue new endeavors.”

Spokespeople for BCBSIL have not responded to a request for clarification as of this report.

Hamman was directly involved in negotiations with Springfield Clinic. When Blue Cross dropped all 650 of the clinic’s providers out of its network in November, customers were left with a dead-end directory of providers, several of whom did not exist. Hamman drove to Springfield from his office in Chicago within the last month following our first report.

Hamman was named president in 2019. He joined Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC) — BCBSIL’s parent company in 1991, according to the company’s website.