Terry Coplin, who oversaw the sale of Agate Resources – the parent company of Trillium Community Health Plan -- walked away with the largest compensation package among CCO (coordinated care organization) executives last year.
ORS 414.651 requires the Oregon Health Authority to collect salaries for the three highest compensated employees at each CCO, however such information may not reflect the total compensation a CCO executive receives from other sources, according to BethAnne Darby, director of its external affairs division, However, the agency intends to require this additional information as part of its 2017 contract amendment.
Coplin, meanwhile, earned $764,963 in 2015, which represented a 55.5 percent increase from the previous year. After stepping down as CEO in July, Coplin became an executive advisor to Centene Corporation based in Spokane.
A Fortune 500 company, Centene paid $109 million for the Eugene-based health plan, while Coplin earned nearly $1.2 million, which represented 518 shares of stock.
Coplin wasn’t the only highly paid executive at Trillium last year. David Cole, its chief financial officer, commanded $560,697, and also benefited from the Centene transaction. Retiring last December, he pocketed nearly $2.4 million -- 1,098 shares. The $109 million paid to the 215 owners of Agate Resources and two independent consultants only represents a portion of what these shareholders will earn during the next three years, according to the confidential un-redacted merger agreement obtained by The Lund Report.
Trillium also ended 2015 quite healthy, reporting $14.7 million in net income, while its annual revenues reached $523 million – a huge growth from $245 million two years earlier. At the same time, it reported $131.3 million in cash and investments, and a healthy operating and total margin of 8.7 percent, according to data released by the Oregon Health Authority earlier this week.
Heatherington Next in Line
As the president and CEO of FamilyCare, Jeff Heatherington, earned $493,064, a 51.8 percent bump, while his chief operating officer, Bill Murray, was paid $329,737 (+51.9%).
Financially, FamilyCare didn’t do so well last year, posting a net loss of $495,111 because of poor investments, while net operating income stood at a positive $11.7 million. The CCO spent $115.8 million on member service expenses in Q1, $134.9 million in Q2, $118.2 million in Q3 and just $67 million in Q4.
During 2015, FamilyCare’s operating margin reached 8.5 percent, with a total margin of 12.8 percent, and also had $292.1 million in cash and investments at the end of 2015.
Guest Well Rewarded
The CEO of Willamette Valley Community Health, William Guest, was paid $391,082 last year. Although the report showed his salary soared by 287 percent from the prior year, that’s because Guest joined the CCO in August 2014. His compliance office, Lori Ashbaugh, earned $126,096, while Dr. Anna Stearn, medical director, was paid $129,827.
Willamette Valley ended the year with $12.7 million in net income and received $6.06 million in quality incentive pool payments from the Oregon Health Authority. The health plan reported an operating margin of 3.0 percent at year’s end compared to a total margin of 2.9 percent and had $22 million in cash and investments.
Meyer Sees Short Gain
The CEO of the state’s largest CCO, HealthShare, was paid $389,946, a 9.2 percent increase from the prior year, while Dr. David Labby, medical director, who retired in mid-year, saw his salary drop to $242,654 (-27.1%).
On average, HealthShare had 241,752 members last year, ending 2015 with $22.6 million in net income, spending, on average, $338.41 per members. HealthShare also received $21.1 million from the quality incentive pool.
HealthShare reported having $55.5 million in cash and investments while its operating margin stood at 2.6 percent and its total margin was 2.8 percent.
Kaiser Given Boost
Kelly Kaiser who runs Intercommunity Health Network, couldn’t have been more pleased after her salary was raised by 25 percent last year, reaching $238,057. Her colleagues, Kim Whitley, chief operating officer, and Dr. Kevin Ewanchyna, medical director, didn’t earn nearly as much. Whitley was paid $143,045 (+18.1%), while Ewanchyna received $188,467 (+10.4%).
IHN saw its cash reserves erode steadily through the year, and started with $67.9 million in cash and equivalents on hand, and ended with $42.8 million. Cash and equivalents fell by $15.1 million in Q1, by another $466,546 in Q2, and by $4.3 million in Q4, for a cumulative decrease of $25.1 million over the year. Its net income reached $19.9 million.
At the end of 2015, IHN reported a healthy operating margin of 7.3 percent and 8.1 percent in total margin, and had $94 million in cash and investments.
Doug Flow Took Home Less
The CEO of AllCare in southern Oregon, Doug Flow, was paid significantly less in 2015; his salary declined by 41 percent, to $212,501.
The CCO seemed to have a rough year, particularly in the third quarter when it reported a $3.1 million loss followed by a $6 million loss in the fourth quarter. By year’s end, it net income stood at $3.2 million. The shift was apparently driven by a drop in net premium revenue, at the same time as the cost of caring for members climbed.
AllCare paid $6 million in dividends to shareholders during the second quarter, but an AllCare official said those dividend payments were to the CCO's parent company, and did not reflect profits or payouts to individual investors.
Meanwhile, Dr. Lyle Jackson, medical director, was paid $269,407 (-15.9%) and Dr. Mark Bradshaw earned $249,753.
AllCare ended the year with an operating margin of 2.8 percent, a total margin of 1.8 percent, and $33.5 million in cash and investments.
Akins Joins Cascade
The newest CEO, Tayo Akins, who became CEO of Cascade Health Alliance last year following the departure of William Guest, earned $302,910. The for-profit Klamath County CCO ended the year with $2.1 million in net income.
Dr. James Calvert was paid $177,469, and Maggie Polson, vice president of service operations, earned $170,609.
Cascade Health Alliance had $28.8 million in cash and investments at year’s end; its operating and total margin both stood at 0.2 percent.
Other CEO Salaries
Here are the salaries of the other CEOs of the coordinated care organizations in 2015:
- Marian Haley, Columbia Pacific, $145,973 (+3.4%)
- Jennifer Lind, Jackson Care Connect, $131,610 (+11.9%)
- Phil Greenhill, Western Oregon Advanced Health, $54,000 (-25%)
- James Carlough, Yamhill Community Care Organization, $252,899 (+21.55)
Also, following the dismissal of Dr. Robert Dannenhoffer as CEO of Umpqua Health Alliance who did not receive a salary in 2015, according to the financial reports provided by the OHA, the highest paid executives were:
- Dr. Wade Fox, medical director, $279,427 (+2.8%)
- Dr. Christine Seals, medical director, who has left the CCO, $215,346 (-9.1%).
For a complete list of all the executive salaries paid by the coordinated care organizations, click here.
Diane can be reached at [email protected]
