Health First

Legal name: Health First Health Plans Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
472736029
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Rockledge, FL, USA
Phone
3214345150
Rating
73
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Community Health Systems

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$125,218,290
Expenses
$125,094,929
Assets
$193,839,209
Liabilities
$50,928,793

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MATTHEW F GERRELL (SR VP CEO HEALTH PLANS)
  • TERRY L FORDE (PRESIDENT/CEO BEG. 8/5/202)
  • STEVEN P JOHNSON (FORMER CHAIR/PRESIDENT/CEO)
  • TAYLOR K SMITH (FRMR INTERIM CEO HFI END 8/24)

Highest reported compensation

  • BRETT A ESROCK (FRMR EXEC CFO/COO TREASURER END): $1,267,396 total reported compensation
  • TERRY L FORDE (PRESIDENT/CEO BEG. 8/5/202): $1,081,516 total reported compensation
  • NICHOLAS W ROMANELLO ESQ (SECRETARY): $1,042,107 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

We exist to improve the health and wellness of the communities we serve.

What it reported doing in 2024

Health first health plans (hfhp) is primarily engaged in promoting the health plans to low income, elderly, or underserved persons. Enrollment is open to all who qualify for medicare.health first health plans' primary plans are medicare advantage (ma) hmo. Ma plans offer everything that traditional medicare covers. In addition to gym membership and allowances for dental and vision care. The plans feature an extensive network of providers and cover emergency care worldwide.health first health plans are available to medicare eligible individuals living in brevard, flagler, hardee, highlands, indian river, lake, orange, seminole, and volusia, counties in Florida. Health first health plans' priorities are to invest into quality improvement, affordability, and other activities to improve the health and healthcare of the entire community.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 99% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 67
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 48
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 95%; rating input score 95
  • Program expense ratio: 96.2%; rating input score 96
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 75%; rating input score 75; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 0.1%; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.55; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.26; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.2%; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -2.1% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -2.9% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 95% of revenue deployed · 96.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 4 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $120.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $1.3M · 16 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes executive pay and related organizations
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2016 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Related organizations: 19 filed related-organization links
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 31/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 54/100.