Running a business can bring families together and also tear them apart. But if those involved can find a way to navigate the mine field of mixing business and family, they often wind up stronger. Kin keeps
health insurer strongBLOOD TIES
Lyn Danninger / ldanninger@starbulletin.com
Such seems to be the case for the Baptiste family, founders of Hawaii Medical Management Alliance Association, better known locally as health insurer HMAA.
Arnold Baptiste Sr. began HMAA in 1989, and overall responsibility is now shared by sons Arnie Jr., 42, who is president, and his younger brother, Marc, 37, who is chief executive officer.
Their sister, Debbie, 43, does some marketing consulting for the company, while Arnold Sr.'s brother, Brian, oversees the company's Kauai operation.
The Baptistes raised their family of three in California, but the family's roots go back to Kauai. Arnold Sr.'s father, Tony, was the island's mayor for much of the 1950s and '60s. A job opportunity brought Arnold Sr., his wife and son Marc back home in 1980.
It wasn't long before Arnold Jr., who had finished college in California and was taking care of family business interests there, began commuting back and forth to Hawaii to help with the business. He moved back in the mid-1990s.
At 66, Arnold Sr. occupies what he calls "the Frank Sinatra" position. As chairman of HMAA's board, Arnold Sr. spends much of his time traveling to secure additional third-party administration and referral contracts in places such as American Samoa, the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia.
He gladly leaves the day-to-day business of the company to his sons.
"You let go and give them the reins to move ahead because you know they can do it," Arnold Sr. said. "They complement one another."
Over the years, all have taken turns occupying the jobs of president and CEO at HMAA.
That's been both a blessing and a curse, they said.
While an appreciation of another person's job can be great, it can also attract plenty of unsolicited advice.
"Who else but family members are going to remind you what your weaknesses are?" Arnie Jr. said.
In spite of that, all said they have found the secret to coexistence in the workplace.
"We all learned a long time ago that it's easier to come together on the major issues than on the details," Arnie Jr. said.
"We're more successful when we don't look over each other's shoulders," Marc said.
Another key to success: no talking about business when the family gets together at home.
As CEO, Marc oversees most of the company's day-to-day operations. Having occupied the position before, Arnie Jr. refers to it as "the hot potato" slot.
"He's responsible for operations, sales, marketing, underwriting and operations," Arnie Jr. said.
He gives his brother high marks in the job. "Marc is stronger than I was in that role, so in that way I think he's been much more effective," he said.
As president, Arnie Jr. concerns himself with the company's financial picture, something he's well suited for, his father said. "Arnie's more analytical, more computer-oriented," he said.
But the challenge of running the business has increased as more Hawaii insurers have run into financial problems and closed shop in the last five years.
The failures have been a cautionary lesson for HMAA.
"It's made us much more conservative in terms of what our hopes are for the future of the company," Arnie Jr. said.
HMAA has about 27,000 health plan members, mostly from small businesses. It also has income from third-party administration arrangements and off-island referral contracts for other insurers that cover about 100,000 people in Pacific island countries.
The far-flung contracts are a natural outgrowth of HMAA's business but also stem from Arnold Sr.'s interest in that part of the world.
During the 1950s he got to know students from different areas of the Pacific when he was attending the University of Hawaii. Today, many of those people occupy government and other administrative positions in their home countries.
Access to medical care, especially specialist care, has been a continuing problem in the Pacific. With his knowledge of the region and relationships with Pacific-region decision-makers, Arnold Sr. has helped improve access, his sons said.
That has translated into business for HMAA and entry into different areas, such as a telemedicine program.
While at times it's been tempting to sign up as many members as possible for the company's health plans in Hawaii, seeing the negative consequences for others who have tried that strategy has tempered those thoughts.
"We could easily have been swallowed up and fallen into the same traps that other people have, but like the tortoise, we just kept chugging along," Arnie Jr. said.