NEWS & TRENDS
EXECUTIVE PAY: RISING TO C-LEVEL
The numbers always cause a buzz—the annual Executive
Compensation Report of HMO CEOs, put out by Managed Care Week. (Dollars
are in millions).
| | Salary | Bonus | Total |
William McGuire | UnitedHealth Group | $1.996 | $5.5 | 7.5 |
Leonard Schaeffer | WellPoint Health Networks | 1.310 | 6.037 | 7.35 |
John Rowe | Aetna | 1.042 | 2.2 | 3.04 |
Larry Glasscock | Anthem | 1.040 | 2.312 | 3.24 |
H. Edward Hanway | Cigna | 1.030 | 2.1 | 3.13 |
Anthony Marlon | Sierra Health | .995 | 2.035 | 3.03 |
Howard Phanstiel | PacifiCare | .976 | 2.0 | 2.98 |
Allen Wise | Coventry | .900 | 2.1 | 3.0 |
Of course, this is chump change compared to the Sports Illustrated "Fortunate 50," The list of the highest earners in sports, which
appeared in the May 17 issue. Here are the top 10-- in millions, of course:
| | Salary or
winnings | Endorsements | Total |
Tiger Woods | Golf | $6.7 | $70 | $76.7 |
Shaquille O’Neal | Basketball | 14.0 | 26.5 | 40.5 |
LeBron James | Basketball | 4.0 | 35 | 39.0 |
Peyton Manning | Football | 26.9 | 9.0 | 36.4 |
Kevin Garnett | Basketball | 29.0 | 7.0 | 36.0 |
Oscar DeLa Hoya | Boxing | 30.0 | 2.0 | 32.0 |
Andre Agassi | Tennis | 2.5 | 24.5 | 27.0 |
Kobe Bryant | Basketball | 13.5 | 12.0 | 25.5 |
Derek Jeter | Baseball | 19 | 6.0 | 25.0 |
Grant Hill | Basketball | 13.3 | 11.0 | 24.3 |
Of the top 50, 24 are professional basketball players, and 12 are from baseball,
four from football, three from tennis, two from auto racing, two from boxing,
two from golf, and one from cycling. The only women are Serena ($17.5 million)
and Venus ($15.1 million) Williams, at Nos. 23 and 41, respectively.
BUSINESS ISN'T TOO SHABBY, EITHER
While HMO execs continue to fare well, their business performance is also
doing quite nicely, thank you very much. Earnings among the nation's HMOs
totaled $6.7 billion in the first nine months of 2003— a 52% increase
over 2002, and more than 10 times the profits attained in 1999, reports Weiss
Ratings, an independent rating and financial analysis firm
(www.weissratings.com).
The Weiss report, issued in early May, covers 487 HMOs. Those with the
biggest year-to-year increases were:
- Aetna Health (Florida), $167
million
- California Physicians
Service, San Francisco, $128.5 million
- Blue Cross Blue Shield of
Michigan, Detroit, $118.9 million
- Scan Health Plan, Long Beach,
CA, $109.3 million
- Pacificare of California,
Cypress, CA, $95.9 million
On the down side, 116 HMOs (22% of the total) had losses in the first nine
months of last year.
"The health of the industry has never been stronger," notes Weiss
VP Melissa Gannon, "yet consumers are feeling weary from the skyrocketing
costs of healthcare. Until consumers can see how the industry's profitability
can enhance their healthcare experience through the use of new technologies
and improved treatment options, they will continue to question the rise in
premiums."
The HMOs with the strongest safety ratings from Weiss were Blue Cross of
California, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Horizon Healthcare
Services (NJ), Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, and the Community Health Plan
of Washington.
TIME IS MONEY Do you really want to know how your employees are spending their time?
A handheld device called a TimeCorder (Pace Productivity) allows workers
to chart their own activities. It's basically a bunch of electronic
stopwatches that track the amount of time spent on a number of precoded
activities. It can record just one activity at a time—walking and
chewing gum and other such multitasking efforts would be tracked separately. Pace says that the device helps improve productivity by pointing out where
time is being wasted. At one financial institution, front line sales people
increased selling time by four hours a week based on the analysis. Clients
include Lilly, Aventis Pasteur, Met Life, and Starbucks. For details, visit www.GetMoreDone.com . |
EEOC and retiree health benefits:
The proof will be in the pudding Will the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's new regulation on
retiree health benefits be good or bad in the long run for retired workers?
Employers and labor groups are mostly giving a hearty thumbs up, saying
that the ruling allows employers to be more flexible in providing benefits
to early (pre-Medicare-eligible) retirees without running afoul of age
discrimination law. The AARP adamantly says No, and that the regulation—by enabling
businesses to reduce or eliminate employer-paid benefits when the retiree
becomes eligible for Medicare—is discriminatory in itself. Essentially, the decision safeguards an employer's desire to build
a bridge to Medicare for its early retiring employees. What remains
in doubt is whether anything will be waiting for them on the other side. |
A FEW HOPS FORWARD ON PATIENT SAFETY
When business execs concerned about health care quality and cost got together
four years ago to form The Leapfrog Group, they focused on three key measures
of a hospital's performance: computerized physician order entry, use of intensivists
in critical care units, and the volume of medical procedures.
The Froggers are now admitting that three is not enough, and they're now
doing a survey based on 30 quality measures, including the original triumvirate.
The new yardsticks come from the National Quality Forum's 2003 report Safe
Practices for Better Healthcare: A Consensus Report (www.qualityforum.org)
.
The expanded list of 30 cuts a broad swath—use of standard abbreviations
and dose designations, ensuring flu vaccination for healthcare workers, rigorous
handwashing procedures, protocols to avoid wrong site and wrong patient surgery,
and vigilance in evaluating a patient's risks of pressure ulcers, aspiration,
and malnutrition. Also: creating an active role for pharmacists in the medication
use system, providing adequate nursing coverage, and establishing a hospital-wide
culture of safety.
First results of the survey will be posted on the Leapfrog group's Web site
in July (www.leapfroggroup.org).
JUMPING IN THE POOL TO SAVE THE UNINSURED Some big names in business—GM, Sears, McD's, IBM—will pool
their resources to offer health insurance for part-time employees, under-65
retirees who don't qualify for Medicare, and others who lack coverage.
Sears alone has 100,000 uninsured part-timers. If the purchasing group
can find a willing underwriter, the coverage would begin next year.
The aim: develop a plan that identifies quality providers and rewards
physicians who follow recommended guidelines. |
20% of your workers, 80% of your costs Research into employee health and wellness programs is getting a $30
million boost from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (www.cdc.gov).
About half of that will be focused on generating scientific evidence
to help convince businesses that worker health promotion really does
help the bottom line. "Just 20% of the workforce accounts for 80% of health care costs,
and it's out of control," says Gregg O. Lehman, President and CEO
of Gordian Health Solutions, a population health management company.
"By actively getting at-risk employees into health management programs,
companies can see a return on investment within the first year." |
Smoke get in their eyes--but is not on their minds The California Tobacco Control Alliance says that businesses in the
state don't understand just how much employee smoking is costing them.
The Alliance puts the cost to employers at $3,000 per smoking employee. More than 70% of Californians support the notion of including smoking
cessation efforts in standard health benefits, according to a poll by
San Jose State University's Survey and Policy Research Institute. Yet
the Tobacco Control Alliance's own survey of employers discovered that
smoking-related costs were not on the radar. To promote better awareness of the issue, the Alliance has begun a
campaign called Smoking Cessation Benefits Everyone. For details, check out
www.cessationbenefitseveryone.org . |
VIVE LE DIFFERENCE? NO WAY!
The quality of patient care is literally and figuratively all over the map,
says the Alliance of Community Health Plans (www.achp.org), and something
must be done to level the field on a higher plane. In a new report, Variations
in Health Care: Implications for Quality Improvement, ACHP says that plans
should do a much better job of reporting on their own performance and increasing
patient participation in healthcare decision making.
The ACHP also calls for paying healthcare providers based on incentives that
reward efficiency, quality, and value. A recent study by the Rand Corporation
found that patients in 12 major metropolitan area had just a 50-50 chance of
receiving the "standard of care" as recommended by expert guidelines.
