Executives At Oregon’s Coordinated Care Organizations Made $12 Million In 2017

The highest paid executives who manage Oregon’s Medicaid program took home more than $12 million in 2017, according to data obtained from the Oregon Health Authority through a public records request.

The data includes salaries of the 46 highest paid executives at 16 current and former Oregon coordinated care organizations, whose funding comes in large part from federal and state Medicaid dollars. In exchange, the organizations are responsible for providing physical, dental and mental health care to the one in four Oregonians on the Oregon Health Plan.

The executives’ total incomes made up less than a quarter of a percent of the $4.9 billion of state and federal Medicaid money the coordinated care organizations received from the state in 2017.

More than 40 percent of those executives earned income from related organizations and some of the salaries listed below could include private dollars from corporate owners.

Philip Greenhill, chief executive officer at Western Oregon Advanced Health, made the most in 2017, taking home more than $692,000, according to the state data. The average salary among the highest paid executives was about $267,000.

Seven of the top 10 highest paid executives were chief executive officers.

Kim Whitley, chief operating officer for Intercommunity Health Network, made the seventh largest salary in 2017, bringing home more than $442,000. Bill Murray, chief operating officer at now defunct FamilyCare Health, made more than $402,000, giving him the ninth largest income.

The 10th highest paid executive, Bruce Croffy, is chief medical director at Umpqua Health Alliance. He made more than $387,000. The average salary among the 12 medical directors was about $276,000.

The data does not include salaries from the health plans that contract with HealthShare, the state’s largest coordinated care organization that covered more than 206,000 Oregon Medicaid patients in 2017. The state does not ask for salaries of those executives because they are not responsible for the coordinated care contract with the state, Oregon Health Authority spokeswoman Allyson Hagen said. Because of that, portions of some executives’ salaries are missing.

CareOregon CEO Eric Hunter, for example, reported making about $110,000 in 2017 from his work with Jackson Care Connect and Columbia Pacific, two coordinated care organizations that CareOregon manages. But a 2016 tax return filing from CareOregon showed that he made about $250,000 in 2016. His predecessor, interim CEO Scott Clement made almost $300,000 that same year, according to the tax filing.

“CCOs are only required to report compensation paid to executives as part of their CCO contract,” Hagen said.

Below are the top 10 highest paid coordinated care organization executives of 2017, ranked by income.

1. Philip Greenhill, chief executive officer at Western Oregon Advanced Health, made $692,327 from the coordinated care organization and related organization. Advance Health covered about 19,180 members in Coos and Curry counties in 2017.
2. Chris Ellertson, CEO of Trillium Community Health Plan, made $601,589 from a related organization. This likely came from Trillium’s parent company, Centene Corp. Trillium covered 86,450 members in and near Lane County.
3. Jeff Heatherington, president and CEO of FamilyCare Health, made $536,156 from the now-defunct coordinated care organization and a related organization. The group used to manage care for more than 114,000 patients, but stopped operating in January amidst a legal battle and rate dispute with the state health authority. Heatherington remains on the board of the Heatherington Foundation for Innovation and Education in Health Care. He expects to transfer $90 million in reserves from the former coordinated care organization to the foundation once FamilyCare closes, the Portland Business Journal reported.
4. Douglas Flow, chief executive officer of Allcare Health Plan, Inc., made $490,387. AllCare Health covered 48,117 patients in parts of Curry, Josephine and Jackson counties.
5. Brent Eichman, chief executive officer of Umpqua Health Alliance, made $483,066 from the coordinated care organization and a related organization. The plan covered 26,121 lives in Douglas County in 2017.
6. Kelley Kaiser, chief executive officer at Intercommunity Health Network, made $450,711 from the coordinated care organization and another related organization. The network covered 52,064 people in Lincoln, Benton and Linn counties.
7. Kim Whitley, chief operating officer of Intercommunity Health Network, made $442,285 from the coordinated care organization and another related organization.
8. Janet Meyer, former chief executive officer of Health Share of Oregon, made $434,777 from the coordinated care organization last year. Health Share, the state’s largest CCO, had more than 206,000 patients in the Portland metropolitan area in 2017. This year, Meyer stepped down.
9. Bill Murray, chief operating officer of FamilyCare Health, made $402,565 from the coordinated care organization and a related organization.
10. Bruce Croffy, chief medical director of Umpqua Health Alliance, made $387,278 from the coordinated care organization and a related organization.

You can reach Jessica Floum at [email protected].