In the previous year, the AHA saw a steep increase in investment income, a 140.6% rise from fiscal 2010 to 2011. Fiscal 2012's investment returns—a more modest 6% bump, to $6.9 million—demonstrate a recovery to pre-recession figures, said AHA board Chairman Dr. Benjamin Chu.
The AHA also spent less on lobbying, with spending falling by 20.6% in fiscal 2012, which ended Sept 30. Chu and Evans said that was ACA-related, as the group had heavily lobbied while lawmakers were debating the healthcare law. The AHA spent $1.9 million on lobbying in fiscal 2012, a decline from the $2.4 million spent in fiscal 2011 and again in 2010.
And while the association spent less money exerting its influence on the healthcare reform effort, it also brought in an additional $2.8 million in dues as hospitals looked to the AHA for help understanding the Affordable Care Act. Chu, who serves as group president for the Southern California and Hawaii division of Kaiser Permanente in Pasadena, Calif., said AHA membership last year increased by 14 members to 5,160 hospitals or health systems, boosting membership dues to $78.6 million.
Despite the upheaval caused by the brisk pace of mergers and acquisitions, Chu said, attendance has been robust at AHA events because hospital leaders are striving to adapt to changing models of payment and healthcare delivery. “People are curious in looking and seeking ways to help one another,” Chu said. Hospitals paid $18.7 million for those programs in fiscal 2012, compared with $18.4 million the previous year.
AHA employee salaries increased by 5.2% in fiscal 2012. The association raised President and CEO Richard Umbdenstock's base salary 2.4% to $921,246 from $899,807. His total compensation, however, dropped 12% to
$2.9 million from $3.3 million in fiscal 2011, reflecting a large sum drawn from deferred compensation in 2011, when he became fully vested in his pension, Evans said.
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