US health executive offered top NHS role

British politicians are getting desperate to fix the NHS

An American executive with a lifetime's experience of paying for care in the US health system has been offered the job of commercial director at the Department of Health, overseeing the purchase of care for NHS patients. But the appointment of R. Channing Wheeler, who is in the final stage of negotiations ahead of an expected announcement this week, is likely to be controversial as he has been caught up in the scandal of backdated stock options in the US.

The appointment of a US big-hitter with extensive healthcare purchasing experience is seen within the department as a clear signal of its continued commitment to market-based reforms and to the use of the private sector to treat and commission care for NHS patients. His selection has been approved by Tony Blair, the prime minister, from a short list that included other experienced US candidates. The department has been encouraged by their apparent belief that there is a job worth doing in the NHS.

Mr Wheeler, 55, was an executive vice-president of UnitedHealth Group, which is still being investigated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission over the alleged granting of backdated share options. The scandal has brought down William McGuire, the former longstanding chairman and chief executive of UnitedHealth, one of the largest US managed-care providers. Mr McGuire resigned after it was discovered that he and other executives had repeatedly received stock options, meant to incentivise future performance, that were granted at or near the lowest point of the share price in each year they received them.

Mr Wheeler, who until 2004 was chief executive of Uniprise, the UnitedHealth subsidiary that deals with some of the biggest US companies, is alleged to have received grants of more than 409,000 options on similar dates to Mr McGuire between 1998 and 2002, according to court papers filed in the US. A civil action has been filed by public sector union shareholders in UnitedHealth seeking $5.5m in damages from him over the share options.

The UK's health department is understood to have done due diligence on the appointment and accepted that Mr Wheeler was unaware at the time that the way the options were granted was questionable. Mr Wheeler held executive positions with US health plans, while running UnitedHealth's north-east region, before becoming chief executive of Uniprise in 1998. and 2004.

Karen Jennings, head of health for Unison, said: "The American health system is riddled with fraud and we must protect our NHS from that sort of corruptioon. "UnitedHealth is trying to infiltrate the NHS, and it is worrying that someone from that organisation is being favoured over an NHS or civil service appointee." Mr Wheeler did not return calls to his listed home address.

Source

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For greatest efficiency, lowest cost and maximum choice, ALL hospitals and health insurance schemes should be privately owned and run -- with government-paid vouchers for the very poor and minimal regulation. Both Australia and Sweden have large private sector health systems with government reimbursement for privately-provided services so can a purely private system with some level of government reimbursement or insurance for the poor be so hard to do?

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