While almost everyone was in a huge economic downturn during 2008, it seems a few Non Profit CEO’s were not.  This was all despite charitable giving being down for the firs time on over 20 years.  Of these CEO’s, their median salary climbed 7% to  whopping total of $361,538.  Now although many of these CEO’s experienced a salary increase, they say their pay is still considerably low compared to people on the for profit sector and that their current rates are at a good place.  To read this full article, please follow the hyper link to the CNN Money page.

pic by www.iQoncept.com

The Chronicle of Philanthropy conducted a survey of 325 large charities and the result was a substantial number making salaries placing them in the top 1% earners. For a peek at the list check out the NPR article through this link. 

I am in agreement with many in Congress that these salaries are not in line with the intent of the creation of the 501 C 3 tax code for charitable organizations.  The top executive in the United States is the President.  This Chief Executive makes no where near these salaries and oversees the largest economy in the world.  A nonprofit’s mission should be first and foremost where dollars are spent.  The compensation of executives at these organizations is clearly out of line with the organizations mission. It says to the community that the organizations have so much money that they can afford to pay large corporate salaries for an outcome that is charitable.  The executive receiving the compensation certainly is not being charitable to the organization by accepting a salary placing them in the top 1% income bracket.

Any nonprofit who says that they must pay the high salary exceeding that of the the Office of the President of the United States to recruit the most qualified person has placed more importance on a person then on the mission of the organization. Placing importance on a single person instead of the institution risks the mission of the organization.

I support Congress passing legislation to limit compensation on executives.   However, lets make it simple.  No salary for a nonprofit can exceed the salary of the President of the United States. If a nonprofit is to exceed said salary they must convert to a for-profit.   Plain and simple.

I believe Socrates would have questioned the merit of the decision by which such a decision had been made by a Board of any nonprofits wishing to pay these extremely high salaries.

For me these organizations represent the beginning of a list of nonprofits for donors not to donate to.

 pic from http://mentalhealthhumor.today.com/

Nonprofits have one direction to take and that is to pass on the facts.   

“It will provide more security and stability to those who have health insurance.  It will provide insurance to those who don’t. And it will lower the cost of health care for our families, our businesses, and our government.”  – PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA

If You Have Health Insurance, the President’s Plan:
· Ends discrimination against people with pre-existing conditions.
· Limits premium discrimination based on gender and age.
· Prevents insurance companies from dropping coverage when people are sick and need it most.
· Caps out-of-pocket expenses so people don’t go broke when they get sick.
· Eliminates extra charges for preventive care like mammograms, flu shots and diabetes tests to improve health and save money.
· Protects Medicare for seniors and eliminates the “donut-hole” gap in coverage for prescription drugs.

If You Don’t Have Insurance, the President’s Plan:
· Creates a new insurance marketplace — the Exchange — that allows people without insurance and small businesses to compare plans and buy insurance at competitive prices.
· Provides new tax credits to help people buy insurance and to help small businesses cover their employees.
· Offers a public health insurance option to provide the uninsured who can’t find affordable coverage with a real choice.
· Offers new, low-cost coverage through a national “high risk” pool to protect people with preexisting conditions from financial ruin until the new Exchange is created.

For All Americans, the President’s Plan:
· Won’t add a dime to the deficit and is paid for upfront.
· Requires additional cuts if savings are not realized.
· Implements a number of delivery system reforms that begin to rein in health care costs and align incentives for hospitals, physicians, and others to improve quality.
· Creates an independent commission of doctors and medical experts to identify waste, fraud and abuse in the health care system.
· Orders immediate medical malpractice reform projects that could help doctors focus on putting their patients first, not on practicing defensive medicine.
· Requires large employers to cover their employees and individuals who can afford it to buy insurance so everyone shares in the responsibility of reform.

As a business write your members of Congress and ask them to  support President Obama’s Plan for Health Reform.

There are many commercials, web ads and false web sites saying that you can get a free copy of your credit report.  They are all a bit shady (hiding information in fine print) except for: annualcreditreport.com.   Check out your credit history and keep track of your activity to prevent identify theft.  Let your employees know that they can get the three credit reports from this company.  Each credit company has a slight difference in the information they hold.

pic by Chud Tsankov illustrations

Look to nonprofits using a cooperative structure as its bylaws to come to the rescue of health care and the government option for the best costs to health care insurance.  The fastest way to success and making an impact will be the ability to get to the scale of the current Health Care Cooperatives. Size does matter.

Nonprofit approach to getting the world healthy again.

Thank you Barry Deutsch for conveying in comic relief what many are thinking.

For profit health insurers make money by calculating a profit into the premium and building in a cushion for overages by some buyers.  Their policies are focused on a financial return to their investors and not the health insurance buyer.  Some times the health insurance buyer benefits from practices implemented to lower costs.  These benefits are in the area of preventative medical services, promotion of healthier behavior and are more educated buyer.

A Public Option solution to any particular problem should not always be considered to have to be run directly by government.   The focus of a public option is to have quality at the best price.  That does not mean the result is always the cheapest.  The definition of quality is a  much more subjective component and more focused on individual choices.

However, any factor for commercial earnings above 5% means that someone is making money and not using it for health care.  This includes those nonprofits who pay salaries above what the President of the United States makes.  His salary is about $400,000.

So I recommend that any configuration of corporations, nonprofit or for-profit who want to offer health plans where the margin is limited to 5% and salaries capped to the President of the United States should be able to offer public Option Plans. All of the Public Option plans must be on line for consumers and employers to purchase and cost comparisons and a plans details clear.  There can not be any fine print.

Let competition for providing health care be outcome driven.

Best Results for the Best Price.  The health care industry of the United States needs to realize that the best price just might be in Canada or a quick flight to England.

From The Wall Street Journal:

The government is not taking our privledge to living a healthy life away because of the health care reform. The whole purpose of Obama’s health care plan is to provide all citizens of the US affordable health care. America was built on the idea of choice. And living a healthy life is the smartest choice we can make for our familys future and our country’s. 

From the Wall Street Journal: 

President Obama supports the teamwork environment that doctors of the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio work in on a daily basis. Rather than having doctors work independently, thus increasing costs, the Cleveland Clinic has doctors from the same speciality collaborate together to figure out the best treatments for patients.

In a perfect medical world, patients wouldn’t need to pay for second opinions they’d be told them by the group of doctors working to help them get better, no extra fees.

The information below is a reprint from the Pfizer web site. 

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Pfizer Inc announced today that it will launch an innovative program to help eligible unemployed Americans and their families who have lost their health insurance maintain access to their Pfizer medicines for free. The inspiration for the new program, called MAINTAIN™ (Medicines Assistance for Those who Are in Need), was generated by Pfizer employees who were witnessing friends, family and neighbors struggle to make ends meet after losing their jobs.

“We all know people who have been laid off recently and have lost their health insurance, making it difficult for them to pay for health care,” said Dr. Jorge Puente, Pfizer’s regional president of Worldwide Pharmaceuticals, a leading champion of the initiative. “We thought there must be some way we could help recently unemployed people who are taking Pfizer medicines to continue treatment during these challenging economic times.”

The program, which applies regardless of prior family income, will be open for enrollment through December 31, 2009 and applies to eligible Americans who have become unemployed since January 1, 2009. It is designed to help recently unemployed Americans and their families who have lost their insurance and who are taking Pfizer medicines to continue treatment for free for up to one year. Nearly 46 million Americans lack health insurance coverage, and that number is increasing as unemployment rates reach their highest levels in 25 years.

Pfizer employees proposed the idea of MAINTAIN to the company’s senior leadership team just within the last month. Pfizer employees also asked to be able to do their part by donating their own money to the program, and the Pfizer Foundation will match their donations.

“The current economic environment has added considerable new stress to the daily life of millions of hard-working Americans, and our colleagues are responding to help their neighbors in the communities where they reside,” said Jeffrey B. Kindler, chairman and chief executive officer of Pfizer. “The speed with which we created and approved this program is proof of our commitment to help people access the medicines they need to live healthier lives. With the launch of this initiative, which I am proud to say was proposed by our colleagues, we are doing what we can to ensure that recent loss of employment does not preclude people from managing their health.”

Eligibility requirements of the new program include:

• Loss of employment since January 1, 2009
• Prescribed and taking a Pfizer medicine for at least 3 months prior to becoming unemployed and enrolling in the program
• Lack of prescription drug coverage
• Can attest to financial hardship

People who qualify will receive their Pfizer medicines for free for up to 12 months or until they become re-insured (whichever comes first). More than 70 Pfizer primary care medicines will be available through the program.

To make it easy for people to apply, the program will be integrated into Pfizer’s existing family of patient assistance programs called Pfizer Helpful Answers®. A single point of entry makes it easy to get help:

• All of Pfizer’s patient assistance programs, including the new program, can be reached by calling a single phone number (1-866-706-2400) or by visiting www.PfizerHelpfulAnswers.com
• Those who contact Pfizer Helpful Answers in need of medicines made by another company will be directed to the Partnership for Prescription Assistance, a pharmaceutical industry initiative that serves to raise awareness of, and boost enrollment in, more than 475 public and private patient assistance programs.

The new program will be fully operational on July 1, 2009. However, people in need now can call 1-866-706-2400 for help. MAINTAIN is a part of Pfizer Helpful Answers, a joint program of Pfizer Inc and the Pfizer Patient Assistance Foundation.

About Pfizer Helpful Answers®

Pfizer Helpful Answers is a family of patient assistance programs for the uninsured and underinsured who need help getting Pfizer medicines. Today, it is the largest and most extensive initiative in the U.S. Pfizer Helpful Answers provides Pfizer medicines for free or at a savings to patients who qualify. Some programs also offer reimbursement support services for people with insurance. Pfizer Helpful Answers is a joint program of Pfizer Inc and the Pfizer Patient Assistance Foundation™.