Teh One Who Knocks
05-13-2014, 12:01 PM
By Electa Draper - The Denver Post
Critics of the state health exchange — and one board member — say it's reckless to give the chief executive a pay raise and bonus when Connect for Health's solvency is uncertain after federal funding ends next year.
Supporters argue it's well-earned.
The exchange's board Monday voted to give CEO Patty Fontneau a 2.5 percent raise, bringing her annual salary to $195,314, and a $14,291 bonus.
"If this were my company, I would have given her a bigger bonus and a bigger raise. She pulled off an incredible job in record time under incredible pressure," said board member Arnold Salazar, executive director of Colorado Health Partnerships, a mental health provider for Medicaid-eligible patients in southern and western Colorado.
Salazar said the Colorado health marketplace has performed better than most state exchanges in signing up more than 131,000 people.
The increase makes Fontneau the third-highest-paid executive among independent state health exchanges created under the Affordable Care Act. Only the California and Connecticut exchanges pay their chief executives more.
"I was blown away, " said Sen. Owen Hill, R-Colorado Springs, who sits on the Health and Human Services Committee. "They're looking for a bailout from taxpayers and they give out a raise and bonus. This is government gone wild."
Exchange staffers last fall unsuccessfully proposed increasing administrative fees on policies purchased through the exchange from 1.4 percent to 1.7 percent.
And next year's budget proposals also have included levying a broad assessment on insurance carriers of $1.25 a month on every policy, whether bought through the exchange or outside it, for 2015 and 2016. It's projected it would raise more than $13 million a year.
"We've spent a significant amount of time on the Finance Committee and in board sessions looking at how Connect for Health will pay its bills when federal funds dry up, and there are still questions about how to make it solvent," said board member Ellen Daehnick, a business owner who cast the single vote against Fontneau's raise and bonus.
"We need to be careful, competent and transparent," Daehnick said. "But there's been absolutely no willingness to consider cutting costs."
The issue of Fontneau's pay hike was first brought up in December, but the board deferred its decision until after open enrollment ended, said board member Gretchen Hammer, director of the Colorado Coalition for the Medically Underserved.
Hammer said the raise reflects a cost-of-living increase and the bonus is recognition that Fontneau met all the exchange's stated objectives for the period prior to open enrollment.
"We are in great shape," Fontneau told The Denver Post after Monday's board meeting. "We are not scrambling. We are one of the most financially secure exchanges because of the board's actions and diverse revenue streams."
Board member Steve ErkenBrack, chief executive of Rocky Mountain Health Plans, wasn't present for the vote.
Critics of the state health exchange — and one board member — say it's reckless to give the chief executive a pay raise and bonus when Connect for Health's solvency is uncertain after federal funding ends next year.
Supporters argue it's well-earned.
The exchange's board Monday voted to give CEO Patty Fontneau a 2.5 percent raise, bringing her annual salary to $195,314, and a $14,291 bonus.
"If this were my company, I would have given her a bigger bonus and a bigger raise. She pulled off an incredible job in record time under incredible pressure," said board member Arnold Salazar, executive director of Colorado Health Partnerships, a mental health provider for Medicaid-eligible patients in southern and western Colorado.
Salazar said the Colorado health marketplace has performed better than most state exchanges in signing up more than 131,000 people.
The increase makes Fontneau the third-highest-paid executive among independent state health exchanges created under the Affordable Care Act. Only the California and Connecticut exchanges pay their chief executives more.
"I was blown away, " said Sen. Owen Hill, R-Colorado Springs, who sits on the Health and Human Services Committee. "They're looking for a bailout from taxpayers and they give out a raise and bonus. This is government gone wild."
Exchange staffers last fall unsuccessfully proposed increasing administrative fees on policies purchased through the exchange from 1.4 percent to 1.7 percent.
And next year's budget proposals also have included levying a broad assessment on insurance carriers of $1.25 a month on every policy, whether bought through the exchange or outside it, for 2015 and 2016. It's projected it would raise more than $13 million a year.
"We've spent a significant amount of time on the Finance Committee and in board sessions looking at how Connect for Health will pay its bills when federal funds dry up, and there are still questions about how to make it solvent," said board member Ellen Daehnick, a business owner who cast the single vote against Fontneau's raise and bonus.
"We need to be careful, competent and transparent," Daehnick said. "But there's been absolutely no willingness to consider cutting costs."
The issue of Fontneau's pay hike was first brought up in December, but the board deferred its decision until after open enrollment ended, said board member Gretchen Hammer, director of the Colorado Coalition for the Medically Underserved.
Hammer said the raise reflects a cost-of-living increase and the bonus is recognition that Fontneau met all the exchange's stated objectives for the period prior to open enrollment.
"We are in great shape," Fontneau told The Denver Post after Monday's board meeting. "We are not scrambling. We are one of the most financially secure exchanges because of the board's actions and diverse revenue streams."
Board member Steve ErkenBrack, chief executive of Rocky Mountain Health Plans, wasn't present for the vote.