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Humana Corporation's Growth in Private Enterprise and Welfare Care

Humana Inc.was founded in 1961 in Louisville,2000  Memorial  Sisters  of  Charity  Texas
Kentucky. The company was founded by David
Jones and Wendell Cherry as a nursing home2003  Oschner  Health  Plan  Louisiana
company. Both men decided to start the
business whilst engaged in playing a game of2005  CarePlus  Health  Florida
golf in Louisville. Each of them put up
$1,000 as their initial investment. The2005  Corphealth  Behavioral Healthcare Texas
company soon became the largest nursing home
company in the United States. Learning that2006  CHA  Health  Kentucky
more profits could be made in running
hospitals they divested from the nursing home2007  Compbenefits  Georgia
chain and moved into purchasing hospitals in
197. Humana in time became the world's2007  KMG  Minnesota
largest  hospital  company  in  the  1980s.
Over 46 years since its foundation by those
To reflect the company's new direction, thetwo golf players, Humana is now the Official
name was changed from Extendicare to HumanaHealth Benefits Provider of the PGA Tour and
Inc. in 1974. Humana experienced tremendousChampions Tour. PGA Tour player David Toms
growth organically.in the years thatand LPGA player Nancy Scranton are both
followed. Its takeover of American Medicorpambassadors for Humana. With a customer base
Inc. in 1978 doubled the company's size.of over 11.5 million in the United States the
During the mid-1970s, a fast-trackcompany is now the largest Fortune 500
construction process enabled the completionCompany. Headquartered in Louisville in the
and opening of one hospital a month. ThisCommonwealth of Kentucky, it has generated a
accelerated construction schedule compressedmarket capital of over $10 billion and $21.4
time by overlapping processes thus allowingbillion dollars in revenue. Humana employs
Humana to develop hospital projectsover 22,500 "associates" nationwide. It
incredibly faster. Humana then moved intomarkets its health benefit consumer services
developing the double corridor model forall over the US and has international
hospital construction which minimized thebusiness interests in Western Europe. In its
distance between patients and nurses byMarch 2007 issue, Fortune Magazine named
placing nursing support services in theHumana one of the Top 5 Most Admired
interior of the building with patient roomsHealthcare  Companies  in  the United States.
surrounding  the  perimeter.
The picture of Humana making business out of
As the American health care system evolved inhealth care and medicine has not been all
the 1980s, Humana developed an integratedrosy. There have been widespread opposition
health care delivery system by creating ato this commercialisation of what they think
family of flexible health care plans, tyingshould be a social service as unethical. This
up the health care service with a healthhas even often degenerated into legal
insurance plan thus enabling them to begintussles.
marketing  health  insurance  in  1984.  .
In 1987, Humana sued NBC over a story line in
Humana brought the pioneering artificialthe television medical drama St. Elsewhere
heart research of Dr. Robert Jarvik and Dr.where the hospital was to be sold to a
William DeVries to Louisville under thefor-profit medical corporation and renamed
newly-created Humana Heart Institute in"Ecumena", with subsequent changes to the
1985. Just in 1982 Clark, a 61-year-oldhospital, both positive and negative,
retired dentist from Des Moines, Washington.,emanating from that change. Humana forced NBC
became the first human to receive ainto showing a disclaimer at the beginning of
permanently implanted artificial heart at thethe September 30 episode saying that the
hands of surgeon William DeVries. Fordrama had no connection whatsoever with
DeVries, then 38, that satisfying moment wasHumana.  A  news  report  on  that  states:
the culmination of the three years he had
spent perfecting the technique that made theA federal court in Paducah, Ky... ruled that
implant possible, and waiting for a patientNBC issue a disclaimer before last night's
who met the rigorous criteria established forepisode of "St. Elsewhere" explaining that
implant candidates by the Food and Drugthe hospital drama has no relationship with
Administration. For DeVries the 7½-hr.Humana Inc., the for-profit hospital chain
operation was "almost a spiritual experience.noted  for  its work on the artificial heart.
So acquiring such a man together with his
collaborator was to bring much invention andAccording to this season's story line,
life  prolongation  at  the center of Humana.fictional St. Elsewhere has been sold to a
for-profit medical corporation that has
In the 1990s Humana metamorphosed into arenamed the hospital "Ecumena." The new
consumer health benefits company. Humanaowners have made improvements to the shabby
spun-off its hospital operations from theinner-city Boston hospital, but the
health insurance operations in 1993 andcorporation is also not as compassionate
created the new company Galen Health Caretoward  the  poor  and  uninsured  as  ...
Inc. Soon after, Galen merged with Columbia
HCA. After United Healthcare's failed attemptOn May 30, 1996, Linda Peeno, who was a
to acquire Humana in 1998, Humana begancontract worker for Humana for nine months,
pioneering work in consumer driven healthtestified before Congress as to the demerits
care in 1999; launching its first services onof  managed  care.
September 11, 2001.The marketing and
administering of health benefit consumerShe  began  by  making  a  public confession:
services. has become a very profitable area
of Humana's engagement which is runIn the spring of 1987, as a physician, I
principally from its headquarters at thecaused the death of a man. Although this was
Humana  building.known to many people, I have not been taken
before any court of law or called to account
Through a partnership with Navigy, Inc., afor this in any professional or public forum.
subsidiary of Blue Cross and Blue Shield ofIn fact, just the opposite occurred: I was
Florida, Inc., in 2001, Humana launched"rewarded" for this. It bought me an improved
Availity to empower physicians and otherreputation in my job, and contributed to my
health care professionals with a businessadvancement afterwards. Not only did I
solution to conduct their daily health plandemonstrate I could indeed do what was
transactions.expected of me, I exemplified the "good"
company doctor: I saved a half million
Humana began marketing health savings accountdollars.
services to individuals and companies in
2003. The Business Health Care Group ofI contend that "managed care," as we
Southeast Wisconsin chose Humana as itscurrently know it, is inherently unethical in
administrative partner to drive Southeasternits organization and operation. Furthermore,
Wisconsin health care costs to the MidwestI maintain that we have an industry which can
average in 2005, through consumer educationexist only through flagrant ethical
largely, providing cost and qualityviolations against individuals and the
information on health care providers,public.
structuring accountability of all
stakeholders and collective purchasing.On the June 21, 2007 episode of Amy Goodman's
Today, this Group represents more than 200Democracy Now! radio/television program,
member companies, including large and smallPeeno further claimed that "just within a day
employers representing more than 150,000or so of the refusal of the heart transplant,
health care consumers in SoutheasternI saw a sculpture being installed in the
Wisconsin.rotunda of Humana's headquarters and was told
... that it had cost about the same as the
Upon passage of the Medicare Prescriptionheart transplant that we had denied... I
Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act inlater found out that that sculpture cost $3.8
the U. S. Congress, Humana launched anmillion, ... equivalent to eight heart
aggressive education campaign to markettransplants."
Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug
Plans nationwide to Medicare eligibleA video of Linda Peeno's testimony appeared
consumers in 2006. Through a cross country RVin Michael Moore's 2007 documentary Sicko. In
tour and strategic alliance with medicarea statement about the movie, Humana declared
distribution concerns such as Wal-Mart,that Peeno was never a Humana associate, but
approximately 5 million consumers got signedrather a "part-time contractor". Humana also
catapulting Humana to #2 in industry marketdisputed the portions of Congressional
share for senior products. Humana alsotestimony that were shown by saying that
launched Right Source, a national mail-orderbecause the patient's specific healthcare
retail  pharmacy  business  in  2006.plan didn't cover heart transplants, the
denial  of  coverage  was  valid.
The list below shows some of the major
acquisitions by Humana since 1990 in theHumana was also featured in Season One of
U.S.A::Moore's The Awful Truth, shown refusing to
give a pancreatic failure sufferer
1990  Michael  Reese  Health  Plan  Illinoisauthorization for a transplant due to a
contradictory policy that stated that all of
1995  The  Dental  Concern  Illinoisthis man's diabetes related expenses were
covered by his plan (his pancreas was failing
1995  Carrington  Illinoisdue to his diabetes) but in another section,
it said that it wouldn't cover organ
1996 Employers Health Insurance (EHI)transplants. Moore conducted a fake funeral
Wisconsinon the front steps of Humana for the man who
was sure to die without the transplant. Three
1997  Physicians  Corp of America (PCA) Texasdays later, Humana changed their policy and
authorized the man's treatment. This scene
1997  ChoiceCare  Ohiowas the inspiration for Sicko.



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