A married couple in California has made millions as the heads of Community Health Group, a Medicaid managed care plan, according to a California Healthline report.
Here are five things to know.
1. Norma Diaz, CEO, and her husband Joseph Garcia, consultant/COO, run Chula Vista, Calif.-based CHG. The nonprofit health plan, which operates in San Diego County, serves roughly 300,000 members.
2. Mr. Garcia and Ms. Diaz earned $1.1 million in 2016, according to the report, which cites CHG's tax returns and company data. Those earnings include salary, bonus, benefits, retirement and deferred pay. Since 2012, the couple has earned a total of more than $5 million.
3. Overall, the health plan posted a 19 percent profit margin in 2016, according to the report. California Healthline notes this exceeds all other Medicaid insurers in the state.
4. CHG, as well as various other Medicaid managed care plans across the country, has achieved financial success amid lagging government oversight of taxpayer money to private Medicaid plans, according to the report. The lagging oversight is attributed, at least in part, to other government responsibilities related to Medicaid expansion under the ACA. Illinois, Kansas and Mississippi have been scrutinized by government auditors and consultants for poor oversight of Medicaid insurers over the last year. Auditors in Illinois found the state didn't adequately monitor $7.1 billion paid to Medicaid in 2016.
5. Increased enrollment due to the ACA is also contributing to Medicaid managed care plans' profits. Under ACA expansion, Medicaid enrollment has increased from 58 million to 74 million, according to the report.
Read the full California Healthline report here.
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