PacificCare’s CEO Rewarded With $3.4 Million Last Year

The chief executive of PacifiCare Health Systems Inc. pocketed $3.4 million in compensation last year, according to the company’s proxy filing.

Alan Hoops received a $578,000 salary, a $350,000 bonus, $393,000 in incentives, and $85,000 in other benefits. In addition, he exercised stock options worth $2 million.

Such multimillion-dollar pay levels in the health-maintenance industry have been criticized by consumer groups, who say that HMOs make money by controlling health-care costs and patient access.

Hoops’ pay level, however, isn’t exorbitant in his industry.

“The sad thing is that it doesn’t stick out relative to other HMOs,” said Peter Lee, a lawyer for the Center for Health Care Rights in Los Angeles. “And I think that’s tragic when you have community clinics being closed.”

Analysts and compensation consultants said Hoops’ package isn’t out of line with that of top executives in his industry, let alone those with companies of comparable size and performance across American industry. Graef Crystal, editor of a San Rafael-based newsletter on executive compensation, said his calculations indicate that Hoops’ pay is about average, compared with his peers at nearly 1,500 firms.

Crystal noted, for instance, that the executive was comparatively underpaid in 1994, when he received a salary of $442,803. Though Hoops got a hefty 31% raise to $578,384, Crystal said, his pay is probably only slightly above average now.