Sutter Health Plan

Legal name: Sutter Health Alliance (Fka Sutter Health Plan)

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
461183948
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Sacramento, CA, US
Phone
800-4SUTTER
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Group Health Practice (Health Maintenance Organizations)

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$837,848,532
Expenses
$827,761,932
Assets
$293,849,584
Liabilities
$205,976,526

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

Leadership & pay

22 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Conrad Vial MD (SVP, SH Network President)
  • Phil Jackson (CEO, HPP, PRES SHA (PT-YR))

Highest reported compensation

  • Conrad Vial MD (SVP, SH Network President): $2,848,299 total reported compensation
  • Phil Jackson (CEO, HPP, PRES SHA (PT-YR)): $1,817,123 total reported compensation
  • Peter Bergamo (SH VP,CGO & INTERIM PRES SHA): $837,621 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 enhance the well-being of people in the communities we serve through a not-for-profit commitment to compassion and excellence in healthcare services.

What it reported doing in 2024

PROGRAM SERVICE ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Sutter Health Alliance (formally known as Sutter Health Plan) is an affiliate of the Sutter Health system, a comprehensive network providing integrated care to more than 3 million patients annually through a network of hospitals, medical foundations, urgent and walk-in care centers, home health and hospice services. The Sutter Health system relies on the dedication of more than 85,000 clinicians, nurses, employees and volunteers to deliver high quality and affordable care to more than 100 communities. We believe that all people deserve access to excellent medical care-whoever they are and wherever they live. Sutter Health doctors, hospitals and other caregivers partner with each other to advance our medical services and increase patients' access to them. The primary purpose of Sutter Health Alliance is to improve the health of the community by increasing access to Sutter Health's network of high-quality doctors, hospitals and other health care services. The health plan promotes affordability through the delivery of cost-effective health care services; this includes partnering with our provider network to improve quality and reduce costs. Sutter Health Alliance is licensed by the Department of Managed Health Care as a Knox-Keene health maintenance organization with plan coverage beginning in January 2014. Sutter Health Alliance members are assigned primary care providers exclusively with physicians through related Sutter Health tax-exempt medical foundations. Sutter Health Alliance develops its plan products under a not-for-profit mission with a commitment to provide affordably priced HMO health plans in accordance with Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and federal guidelines that allow Northern California's socially and economically diverse communities to access high quality and accessible care at Sutter Health's network of doctors and hospitals. Sutter Health Alliance participates in activities designed to promote the general health of communities, promotes and encourages advancement and improvement of high-quality and cost-effective health care services; and facilitates the interchange of ideas among health care service organizations and communities served.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 100% 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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 84
  • Transparency & Controls: 78
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 34
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 94.4%; rating input score 94
  • Program expense ratio: 95.7%; rating input score 96
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 87.5%; rating input score 88; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 1.2%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.35; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.7; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.4%; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12.5% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12.7% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 14.8% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 4 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 94.4% of revenue deployed · 95.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 8 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $792.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $2.8M · 22 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $9M reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2016 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 11 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 58 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 38/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 12/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 22/100.
  • Review — Grant Readiness: California registration: this organization could not be resolved against the register, so the check is unfinished.