Two Blue Cross Blue Shield insurers on both U.S. coasts will invest jointly in high-cost management technology and share insights into improving health care in a long-term agreement that will leave the companies as separate entities.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina and Portland, Oregon-based Cambia Health Solutions said Tuesday that they will share top executives but will keep separate their assets and insurance policies. Cambia’s new board will be mixed.

Headquarters will be maintained in Durham and Oregon, the companies said.

The firms also set up a website to explain the alliance.

“We have to do something different to make health care better, simpler, and more affordable for the people we serve,” said Patrick Conway, president and CEO of Blue Cross NC. “By sharing resources, innovations, and best-in-class services we can fundamentally transform the way individuals and families experience the health care system.”

Conway will also become Cambia’s CEO. He says in an interview the companies will pool investments in information technology and data analytics.

“People and their families are hurting every day in the current health care system, longing for care focused on their needs,” said Mark Ganz, president and CEO of Cambia, in the announcement. “Together, we have the power to accelerate transformation, be a model for what is possible, and positively impact the lives of those we serve.”

The two not-for-profit companies insure more than 6 million people in North Carolina, Oregon, Utah, Idaho and Washington. The companies’ policies and pricing will remain regulated in their separate operating states.

Cambia health plans include Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon, Regence BlueShield in Washington, Regence BlueShield of Idaho, and Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Utah.

Affiliation structure

Here is how the firms say the alliance will be structured:

Cambia and Blue Cross NC will enter into a long-term management services agreement, adopting best-in-class services from both companies. Specifically, the companies have agreed to share management, administrative, operational, and other corporate services, under the Cambia Health Solutions name.

Cambia’s Board of Directors will be made up of 10 members from Blue Cross NC’s current Board of Trustees and nine members from Cambia’s current Board of Directors. Blue Cross NC will retain its own separate Board of Trustees and name. Blue Cross NC and Cambia will retain their separate, tax-paying, not-for-profit corporate structures.

As part of the affiliation, Ganz will serve as the new Executive Chair of Cambia’s Board of Directors, and Conway will serve as Cambia’s new CEO. Conway also will remain CEO of Blue Cross NC. Headquarters will be in Durham, NC, and Portland, OR.

The strategic affiliation also will maintain the separate health plans in five states, all locally led and regulated. Through the transition to the strategic affiliation, members, employers and providers will continue to receive the same high-quality service they have come to expect. The strategic affiliation is subject to regulatory approval in North Carolina, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Utah.