Feature Article
F
ran Parker ’88 doesn’t walk away
from a challenge—even one as big as
creating and then leading a trust that
manages the medical benefits of hundreds of thousands of United Auto
Workers retirees.
Parker, after “retiring” in 2008 as
president and CEO of the Health Alliance Plan (HAP), soon jumped back into
the workforce. She was named executive
director of the UAW Retiree Medical
Benefits Trust, which manages the benefits of approximately 750,000 retirees
of the “Big Three” automakers of Ford,
General Motors and Chrysler.
“(The UAW) came to me to do this
because of my background,” said Parker,
who has more than 40 years of health
care experience. “Taking the membership of three different organizations,
Ford, GM and Chrysler, with no infrastructure, you had to create (the trust)
from nothing. You knew that come January 1 of 2010, these retirees depended
on you.”
When the trust launched in 2010,
it became the largest non-governmental
purchaser of retiree health care in the
U.S. The trust is governed by an 11
person Committee of Directors. All of
the retiree health care liabilities were
transferred to a new independent Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association
(VEBA). Parker said she is enjoying her
latest challenge, and considers it one of
her greatest career achievements.
“I kind of divide the day into thirds,”
Parker said of her typical day on the job,
which usually begins about 7 a.m. and
ends around 6 p.m. “A third might be
day-to-day running of an organization.
Another third (is) trying to keep abreast
of regulatory changes. And (then) some
time on strategy. I try to interact with
staff and others, and I spend time with
our insurance carriers and medical
providers.”
“I don’t think there’s shortcuts. I think
that hard work, honesty, forthrightness,
determination, relationship-building,
those were all part. For me, I never
walked away from a challenge.”
As a leader, Parker considers herself
to be “fact-based” and “data-driven.”
However, she said she also values the
opinions of others in the decisionmaking process.
“I think it’s important to be the best,
no matter what your job is,” she said.
“I try to continuously learn. … I like
to gather opinions from others on all
levels. I’m not really top down.”
Parker began her career in the health
care industry working as a co-op for Blue
Cross/Blue Shield—while still a senior
at Detroit Dominican High School. She
started at HAP in 1979 as one of 14 original employees, and steadily worked her
way up the corporate ladder. In 2004,
she was named HAP’s president and
CEO.
“For me, that itself was an accomplishment,” Parker said of her progression to a top leadership role at HAP.
“I don’t think there’s shortcuts. I think
that hard work, honesty, for ѡɥ