SIERRA HEALTH SERVICES INC
8-K, 1999-03-17
HOSPITAL & MEDICAL SERVICE PLANS
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                       SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

                             Washington, D.C. 20549


                                -----------------


                                    FORM 8-K



                             Current Report Pursuant
                          to Section 13 or 15(d) of the
                         Securities Exchange Act of 1934



                                 March 17, 1999



                          SIERRA HEALTH SERVICES, INC.
             (Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)


Nevada                               1-8865                           88-0200415
- -----------                        -----------                  ----------------
(State or Other Jurisdiction   (Commission File Number)           (IRS Employer
of Incorporation)                                            Identification No.)


         2724 North Tenaya Way
           Las Vegas, Nevada                                        89128
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(Address of principal executive offices)                       (Zip Code)


Registrant's telephone number, including area code:     (702) 242-7000




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<PAGE>



Item 5.  Other Events

The following discussion contains certain cautionary statements regarding Sierra
Health  Services,  Inc.'s  ("Sierra" or the  "Company")  business and results of
operations,  which should be  considered  by the  Company's  stockholders.  This
discussion is intended to take advantage of the "safe harbor"  provisions of the
Private  Securities  Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The following factors should
be considered in conjunction with any discussion of operations or results by the
Company, or its representatives,  including any forward-looking  discussion,  as
well as  comments  contained  in press  releases,  presentations  to  securities
analysts  or  investors,  and all other  communications  by the  Company  or its
representatives.

In making these statements,  the Company is not undertaking to address or update
each factor in future filings or communications regarding the Company's business
or results,  and is not undertaking to address how any of these factors may have
caused changes to discussions  or information  contained in previous  filings or
communications.  In  addition,  any of the  matters  discussed  below  may  have
affected the Company's past results and may affect future  results,  so that the
Company's  actual results may differ  materially from those expressed herein and
in prior or subsequent communications.

Risks  Associated  with  Government  Contracts.  In June 1996, the Department of
Defense ("DOD") awarded a triple-option health benefits ("TRICARE") managed care
support  contract  to TriWest  Healthcare  Alliance  ("TriWest"),  a  consortium
consisting  of Sierra and 13 other  health  care  companies,  to provide  health
services to Regions 7 and 8, which include a total of 16 states.  In April 1997,
TriWest began providing health care to  approximately  700,000  individuals,  of
which  Sierra  is  responsible  for  providing  care  to  approximately   93,000
beneficiaries in Nevada and Missouri.  During the third quarter of 1997,  Sierra
Military  Health  Services,  Inc.  ("SMHS"),  a wholly owned  subsidiary  of the
Company, was notified that it had been awarded a multi-year TRICARE managed care
support  contract  by the  Department  of  Defense  to  serve  TRICARE  eligible
beneficiaries  in Region 1. This region includes  approximately  606,000 TRICARE
beneficiaries in 13 northeastern states and the District of Columbia. SMHS began
health care delivery under this contract on June 1, 1998. SMHS  subcontracts for
health  care  delivery,  including  some of the risk,  for parts of the  TRICARE
contract.  TRICARE  contracts are generally issued at low profit margins.  There
can be no assurance  that health care expenses or  administrative  expenses will
not exceed contractual levels, which could have a material adverse effect on the
Company's results of operations and financial condition.

As of December 31, 1998, approximately $34 million of a $69.6 million receivable
from the federal  government is associated  with monies owed to SMHS as a result
of providing health care services for a larger  beneficiary  population than was
estimated  in the  contract  bid.  SMHS  expects  to  receive  the amount at the
completion of the first bid price adjustment ("BPA"). SMHS receives monthly cash
payments  equivalent to one-twelfth of its annual contractual price with the DOD
and accrues health care revenue on a monthly basis for any monies owed above its
monthly cash receipt based on the number of at-risk eligible beneficiaries.  The
BPA process  serves to adjust the DOD's monthly  payments to SMHS,  because such
payments are based in part on 1996 DOD  estimates  for  beneficiary  population,
beneficiary  population baseline health care cost, inflation and military direct
care system  utilization.  As actual information is made available for the above
items,  quarterly  adjustments  are made to SMHS' monthly health care payment in
addition  to a lump  sum  adjustment  for past  months.  SMHS  accrues  for such
adjustments  on a monthly basis as actual  information  is made  available.  The
first such  adjustment  did not occur as  scheduled  on February  28, 1999 (SMHS
anticipates DOD delays of up to 6 months.) If the reimbursement timing or amount
of the BPA varies  significantly from the Company's  estimate,  there could be a
material adverse effect on the Company's results from operations and cash flows.


                                        1

<PAGE>



Potential Adverse Impact of Government  Regulation.  The health care industry in
general,   health  maintenance   organizations  ("HMOs")  and  health  insurance
companies in particular, are subject to substantial federal and state government
regulation, including, but not limited to, regulation relating to cash reserves,
minimum  net worth,  licensing  requirements,  approval of policy  language  and
benefits,  claims payment practices,  mandatory products and benefits,  provider
compensation arrangements,  premium rates and periodic examinations by state and
federal  agencies.  As a result,  a portion of the Company's HMOs' and insurance
companies' cash is essentially  restricted by various state  regulatory or other
requirements limiting certain of the Company's  subsidiaries' cash to use within
their current operations as a result of minimum capital requirements.  State and
federal government  authorities are continually  considering changes to laws and
regulations applicable to the Company and its subsidiaries. Many states in which
the Company operates are currently considering  regulation relating to mandatory
benefits,  provider  compensation,   disclosure  and  composition  of  physician
networks.  The Company conducts operations,  and is subject to state regulation,
in the following  jurisdictions:  Arizona,  California,  Colorado, Iowa, Kansas,
Louisiana,  Mississippi,  Missouri,  Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania,
South Carolina,  Texas, and Utah. In addition,  the Company is licensed, and may
be subject to state regulation, in several other states in which it is currently
not doing business.

In  addition  to  applicable  laws and  regulations,  the  Company is subject to
various audits,  investigations and enforcement actions.  These include possible
government  actions relating to the federal Employee  Retirement Income Security
Act, which regulates  insured and self-insured  health coverage plans offered by
employers,  the Federal  Employees Health Benefit Plan,  federal and state fraud
and abuse laws, and laws relating to utilization  management and the delivery of
health care and the timeliness of payment or reimbursement  therefore.  Any such
government action could result in assessment of damages, civil or criminal fines
or penalties,  or other  sanctions,  including  exclusion from  participation in
government  programs.  In addition,  disclosure of any adverse  investigation or
audit results or sanctions could negatively  affect the Company's  reputation in
various  markets and make it more difficult for the Company to sell its products
and services.

Under the "corporate  practice of medicine" doctrine,  in most states,  business
organizations,  other  than  those  authorized  to do so,  are  prohibited  from
providing, or holding themselves out as providers of, medical care. Some states,
including  Nevada,  exempt HMOs from this  doctrine.  The laws  relating to this
doctrine  are  subject to numerous  conflicting  interpretations.  Although  the
Company seeks to structure its operations to comply with  corporate  practice of
medicine  laws in all  states in which it  operates,  there can be no  assurance
that, given the varying and uncertain interpretations of those laws, the Company
would  be  found  to  be  in  compliance  with  those  laws  in  all  states.  A
determination  that the Company is not in compliance with  applicable  corporate
practice  of  medicine  laws in any  state  in which it  operates  could  have a
material  adverse  effect on the  Company if it were unable to  restructure  its
operations to comply with the laws of that state.

Risk of  Adverse  Effect of Health  Care  Reform.  As a result of the  continued
escalation of health care costs and the inability of many  individuals to obtain
health care insurance,  numerous  proposals  relating to health care reform have
been or may be introduced in the United States Congress and state  legislatures.
Any  proposals  affecting  underwriting  practices,   limiting  rate  increases,
requiring  new or  additional  benefits or  affecting  contracting  arrangements
(including  proposals  to  require  HMOs and  preferred  provider  organizations
("PPOs")  to accept any health  care  providers  willing to abide by an HMO's or
PPO's  contract  terms) may make it more  difficult  for the  Company to control
medical  costs  and  could  have a  material  adverse  effect  on the  Company's
business.



                                        2

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Potential  Inability to Manage or Predict Future Health Care Costs.  Much of the
Company's  medical  premium  revenue  is  determined  in  advance  of the actual
delivery  of  services  and  incurrence  of the  related  costs.  The  Company's
profitability  will continue to be  dependent,  in large part, on its ability to
predict and maintain effective management over health care costs through,  among
other things, appropriate benefit design, utilization review and case management
programs and its contracting arrangements with providers while providing members
with quality health care.  Factors such as  utilization,  new  technologies  and
changing health care  practices,  hospital  costs,  pharmacy  costs,  inflation,
epidemics,  new  mandated  benefits  or  additional  regulations,  inability  to
establish acceptable contracting  arrangements with providers and numerous other
factors may affect the Company's  ability to manage such costs.  There can be no
assurance  that the Company will be successful  in predicting or mitigating  the
effect of any of these factors.


Medical costs payable reflected in the Company's  financial  statements  include
reserves for incurred but not reported  claims  ("IBNR")  which are estimated by
the Company.  The Company  estimates the amount of such reserves  using standard
actuarial  methodologies  based  upon  historical  data  including  the  average
interval  between the date  services  are rendered and the date claims are paid,
expected  medical  cost  inflation  and  utilization,  seasonality  patterns and
fluctuations in membership. The Company believes that its reserves for IBNR have
been fairly estimated.  However,  the Company's  growth,  changes in utilization
costs and  change in claims  payment  patterns  affect  its  ability  to rely on
historical  information  in  making  IBNR  reserve  estimates.  There  can be no
assurance as to the ultimate  accuracy or completeness of such estimates or that
adjustments  to reserves will not cause  volatility in the Company's  results of
operations.

Pharmaceutical  Costs.  The costs of  pharmaceutical  products  and services are
increasing  faster than the costs of other medical products and services.  Thus,
the Company's HMOs/PPOs face ever higher pharmaceutical  expenses.  Although the
Company  attempts to  effectively  manage the pharmacy  costs for the  Company's
HMOs/PPOs,  there can be no assurances that the Company will be able to do so in
the face of rapidly rising prices.  Also,  statutory and regulatory  changes may
significantly alter the Company's ability to manage pharmaceutical costs through
restricted  formularies  of  products  available  to the  Company's  health plan
members.

Possible Volatility of Common Stock Price. Recently,  there has been significant
volatility  in the market  prices of  securities of companies in the health care
industry,  including  the  price  of the  Sierra  Common  Stock.  Many  factors,
including medical cost increases, research analysts' comments,  announcements of
new legislative and regulatory proposals or laws relating to health care reform,
the  performance  of, and investor  expectations  for, the Company,  the trading
volume of the Sierra Common Stock,  litigation,  and general economic and market
conditions,   will   influence   the  trading  price  of  Sierra  Common  Stock.
Accordingly,  there can be no assurance as to the price at which Sierra's Common
Stock will trade in the future.

No  Dividends.  The Company has not paid or declared  any cash  dividends on the
Sierra  Common Stock since  inception  and the Company  anticipates  that future
earnings will be retained to finance the continuing  development of its business
for the foreseeable future.

Lack  of  Control   Over   Premium   Structure;   Lack  of   Control   Over  and
Unpredictability  of  Medical  Costs.  A  substantial  amount  of the  Company's
revenues are  generated  by premiums,  including  capitation  payments  from the
Health Care Financing  Administration  ("HCFA"),  which  represent fixed monthly
payments  for each person  enrolled in the  Company's  plans.  If the Company is
unable  to  obtain  adequate  premiums  because  of  competitive  or  regulatory
considerations, the Company could incur decreased margins or significant losses.
Because a significant  portion of the Company's premium revenues are paid by the
federal

                                        3

<PAGE>



government  in  connection  with the Medicare  program,  to the extent  Medicare
premium  rates do not  keep  pace  with  rising  medical  costs,  the  Company's
profitability could be materially adversely affected.  Historically, these rates
have been  subject to wide  variations  from year to year and have  decreased in
certain  years.  The  Company's  Medicare  programs are subject to certain risks
relative to commercial  programs,  such as higher comparative  medical costs and
higher  levels of  utilization.  While the Company  attempts to base  commercial
premiums at least in part on estimates of future  health  costs,  many  factors,
such as those  discussed  above,  may cause  actual  health care costs to exceed
those cost estimates reflected in premiums charged.

Dependence on Key  Enrollment  Contracts.  For the year ended December 31, 1998,
the Company received  approximately  23% of its total revenues from its contract
with HCFA to provide health care services to Medicare  enrollees.  The Company's
contract  with HCFA is subject to annual  renewal  at the  election  of HCFA and
requires  the  Company  to  comply  with  federal  HMO  and  Medicare  laws  and
regulations  and may be  terminated  if the  Company  fails  to so  comply.  The
termination  of the Company's  contract with HCFA would have a material  adverse
effect on the Company's business. In addition,  there have been, and the Company
expects  that there will  continue to be, a number of  legislative  proposals to
limit Medicare reimbursements.  Future levels of funding of the Medicare program
by the federal government cannot be predicted with certainty. For the year ended
December 31, 1998,  military contract revenue  represented  approximately 20% of
the Company's  revenue.  This TRICARE  contract is currently  structured as five
one-year  option periods.  The termination of the TRICARE  contract would have a
material adverse effect on the Company's business. In addition,  the Company has
contracts to provide medical  services to federal  employees.  The rates charged
for such services are subject to annual reviews and retroactive adjustments. The
Company's ability to obtain and maintain favorable group benefit agreements with
employer  groups also affects the Company's  profitability.  The  agreements are
generally  renewable  on an annual  basis but are subject to  termination  on 60
days' prior  notice.  Although no employer  group  accounts  for more than 2% of
total revenues, the loss of one or more of the larger employer groups could have
a material adverse effect upon the Company's business.

Potential Adverse Impact of Social Health  Maintenance  Organization.  Effective
November 1, 1996, Health Plan of Nevada,  Inc. ("HPN") entered into a Social HMO
contract  pursuant  to which a large  portion  of the  Company's  Medicare  risk
enrollees  receive certain expanded  benefits.  HPN, a wholly-owned  subsidiary,
receives  additional  revenues  for  providing  these  expanded  benefits.   The
additional  revenues are determined  based on health risk  assessments that have
been, and will continue to be, performed on the Company's eligible Medicare risk
members.  HCFA has expressed the intention to continue the current reimbursement
methodology for the SHMO contract through December 31, 2000. HCFA has considered
adjusting  the  reimbursement  factor for the Social HMO  members.  At this time
however, there can be no assurance as to what the final per member reimbursement
will be or that the Social HMO contract will be renewed.

Potential Adverse Impact of Competition. Managed care companies and HMOs operate
in  a  highly  competitive  environment.  The  Company  has  numerous  types  of
competitors,  including,  among others, other HMOs, PPOs,  self-insured employer
plans and  traditional  indemnity  carriers,  many of which  have  substantially
larger total enrollments,  have greater financial  resources and offer a broader
range of products than the Company.  The Company has  encountered the effects of
increased  competition  in the  Nevada  market  and  the  Texas  market  is very
competitive.  Additional  competitors with needs or desires for immediate market
share or with  greater  financial  resources  than the Company  have entered the
Company's markets and offered products at lower premium levels than the Company.
Certain competitive  pressures have limited the Company's ability to increase or
in some instances  maintain the premiums charged to certain employer groups. The
inability of the Company to manage costs effectively may have an adverse

                                        4

<PAGE>



impact on the Company's future results of operations by reducing profit margins.
In addition,  competitive pressures may also result in reduced membership levels
or decreasing profit margins and there can be no assurance that the Company will
not incur  increased  pricing and  enrollment  pressure  from local and national
competitors.

Management of Growth. The Company has made several acquisitions in recent years,
the most  recent  of which  was the  acquisition  of  certain  assets  of Kaiser
Foundation  Health Plan of Texas  ("Kaiser-Texas")  in October 1998.  Failure to
effectively  integrate acquired  operations could have a material adverse effect
on the Company's results of operations and financial condition.

The Kaiser-Texas  operations  incurred  significant losses over the past several
years. Since the date of acquisition,  the Company has worked extensively on the
integration of the Kaiser-Texas operations.  However, there can be no assurances
regarding  the  ultimate  success  of the  Company  to  improve  the  results of
operations of Kaiser-Texas.  In order to integrate the acquired operations,  the
Company has and will, among other things, need to continue to incur considerable
integration  expenditures,  including additional costs to implement new computer
systems.  The  integration  of this  business may result in, among other things,
temporary increases in claims inventory or other service-related issues that may
negatively affect the Company's  relationship with its customers.  The Company's
results of operations could be adversely  affected in the event that the Company
experiences  such  problems  or is  otherwise  unable  to  implement  fully  and
effectively its expansion strategy.

In fiscal year 1999, the Company will be converting the majority of its business
operations to new computer systems.  Any significant  unanticipated  hardware or
software  problems  resulting  from these  conversions  could have a significant
adverse  impact on the Company's  business  processes,  customer  relationships,
results of operations  and financial  condition.  There is no assurance that the
Company  will be able to develop  processes  and  systems to support its growing
operations.

Geographic Concentration; Potential Adverse Impact of Current Expansion Program;
Limited  Success of Previous  Expansion  Program.  Through the third  quarter of
1998, the majority of the Company's HMO operations were concentrated in southern
Nevada, with less significant HMO operations in Houston,  Texas, northern Nevada
and Arizona. With the Kaiser-Texas  acquisition in October 1998, the Company now
has significant  HMO operations in Texas.  Any adverse  economic,  regulatory or
other  developments  that may occur in Nevada or Texas may negatively impact the
Company's  operations  and  financial  condition.  In the past,  the Company has
attempted to expand its operations outside of southern Nevada.  These activities
have met with  limited  success  and,  in some  cases,  resulted  in the Company
incurring significant losses.  Although the Company believes that it is now more
experienced,  there can be no assurance that the Company will be able to recover
its initial  investments or expand into other regions  successfully  and without
incurring losses.

Potential Loss of Nevada Home Office Tax Credit.  Under  existing  Nevada law, a
50% premium tax credit is generally  available to HMOs and insurers that own and
substantially  occupy home offices or regional home offices  within  Nevada.  In
connection  with the  settlement of a prior dispute  concerning  the premium tax
credit,  the Nevada  Department of Insurance  acknowledged in November 1993 that
the Company's HMO and insurance  subsidiaries meet the statutory requirements to
qualify for this tax credit.  The Company intends to take all necessary steps to
continue to comply with these requirements.  The elimination or reduction of the
premium tax credit, or any failure by the Company to qualify for the premium tax
credit,  would  have a  material  adverse  effect on the  Company's  results  of
operations.



                                        5

<PAGE>



Dependence Upon Health Care Providers. The Company's profitability is dependent,
in large part, upon its ability to contract favorably with hospitals, physicians
and other  health  care  providers.  The  Company's  contracts  with its primary
providers  are  generally  renewable  annually,  but  certain  contracts  may be
terminated  on 90 days' prior written  notice by either  party.  There can be no
assurance  that the Company will be able to continue to renew such  contracts or
enter into new  contracts  enabling it to service its  members  profitably.  The
Company  expects  that it will be required  to expand its health  care  provider
network in order to service membership growth adequately;  however, there can be
no assurance that it will be able to do so on a timely basis or under  favorable
terms.

Capitation  and Other Risk  Sharing  Arrangements.  The Company  contracts  with
hospitals,  physicians  and other  providers  of health care and  administrative
services under capitated or discounted fee-for-service  arrangements.  Capitated
providers are at risk for the cost of medical care and  administrative  services
provided to the Company's enrollees in the relevant  geographic areas;  however,
the  Company is  ultimately  responsible  for the  provision  of services to its
enrollees  should the  capitated  provider be unable to provide  the  contracted
services. The inability of certain capitated providers to provide the contracted
service could have a material adverse effect on the Company's business.

Reinsurance Contracts. Reinsurance contracts do not relieve the Company from its
obligations to enrollees or policyholders.  Failure of reinsurers to honor their
obligations  could result in losses to the Company.  The Company  evaluates  the
financial  condition of its  reinsurers to minimize its exposure to  significant
losses  from  reinsurer  insolvencies.  All  reinsurers  that  the  Company  has
reinsurance  contracts  with are rated A- or better  by the A.M.  Best  company.
Should these  companies be unable to perform their  obligations to reimburse the
Company for ceded losses, the Company could experience significant losses.

Potential  Litigation  Against the Company and Inability to Obtain or Inadequacy
of Insurance. The Company is and will continue to be subject to certain types of
litigation,  including medical  malpractice claims and claim disputes pertaining
to its contracts and other  arrangements  with  providers,  employer  groups and
their  employees  and  individual  members.  The Company  maintains  general and
professional  liability,  property  and  fidelity  insurance  coverage  and  its
multi-specialty  medical group maintains  excess  malpractice  insurance for the
providers  presently employed by the group.  Additionally,  the Company requires
all of its other independently contracted provider physician groups,  individual
practice physicians,  specialists,  dentists,  podiatrists and other health care
providers  (with the exception of certain  hospitals)  to maintain  professional
liability  coverage.  However,  certain of the hospitals  with which the Company
contracts  are  self-insured.  The  Company  may incur  losses  not  covered  by
insurance,  beyond  the  limits  of its  insurance  coverage  for  its  employed
physicians and staff, for acts or omissions by independent  providers who do not
carry  sufficient  malpractice  coverage  or for  other  acts or  omissions.  In
addition,  punitive  damage  awards are  generally  not  covered  by  insurance.
Although the Company believes that it currently carries adequate  insurance,  no
assurance can be given that the Company's insurance coverage will be adequate in
amount  or  type,  will be  available  in the  future  or that  the cost of such
insurance will be reasonable.

Ongoing  Modification  of  the  Company's  Management  Information  System.  The
Company's  management  information  system is critical to its current and future
operations.  The information  gathered and processed by the Company's management
information  system  assists  the Company in,  among other  things,  pricing its
services,  monitoring  utilization and other cost factors,  processing  provider
claims,  providing  bills  on  a  timely  basis  and  identifying  accounts  for
collection.  The Company regularly modifies its management  information  system.
Any difficulty  associated  with or failure of such system,  or any inability to
expand processing  capability or to develop and maintain networking  capability,
could have a material adverse effect on the Company's business.


                                        6

<PAGE>



Year 2000.  The Company is in the process of modifying or replacing its computer
systems and  applications  to accommodate  the "Year 2000".  The Year 2000 issue
exists because many computer  systems and  applications  currently use two-digit
date  fields  to  designate  a  year.   As  the  century  date  change   occurs,
date-sensitive systems will recognize the year 2000 as 1900, or not at all. This
inability  to  recognize  or properly  treat the Year 2000 may cause  systems to
process critical financial and operational information incorrectly.

The  failure  to  correct  a  material  Year  2000  problem  could  result in an
interruption  of, or a failure of,  certain  business  activities or operations.
Such failures could have material  adverse affects on the Company's  operations,
liquidity and financial  condition.  Due to the general uncertainty  inherent in
the Year  2000  problem,  resulting  in part from  uncertainty  of the Year 2000
readiness of third parties with which the Company does business,  the Company is
unable to determine at this time whether the consequences of potential Year 2000
failures  will have a  material  adverse  impact  on the  Company's  results  of
operations, liquidity or financial condition.

The costs of the project  and the dates on which the  Company  plans to complete
the necessary Year 2000  modifications are based on management's best estimates,
which were derived utilizing numerous assumptions of future events including the
continued  availability of certain resources and other factors.  However,  there
can be no guarantee  that these  estimates  will be achieved and actual  results
could differ materially from those plans. Specific factors that might cause such
material  differences include, but are not limited to, the availability and cost
of  personnel  trained in this area,  the  ability  to locate  and  correct  all
relevant  computer codes,  the ability of the Company's  significant  suppliers,
customers  and others with which it  conducts  business,  including  federal and
state governmental  agencies, to identify and resolve their own Year 2000 issues
and similar uncertainties.

Revolving  Credit  Facility.  On October 31, 1998,  the Company  obtained a $200
million  credit   facility  under  which  it  has  $139  million  in  borrowings
outstanding as December 31, 1998. Interest under the credit facility is variable
and  based  on the  London  Interbank  Offering  Rate  ("LIBOR")  plus a  margin
determined  by reference to the Company's  leverage  ratio.  Of the  outstanding
balance,  $50 million is covered by interest-rate  swap agreements.  The average
cost of  borrowing  on this  line of  credit  for the  fourth  quarter  of 1998,
including the impact of the swap agreements,  was approximately 8%. The terms of
the credit facility contain a mandatory payment schedule that begins on June 30,
2001 and ends on September 30, 2003 if the  principal  balance  exceeds  certain
thresholds. The terms of the credit facility contain certain covenants including
a minimum  fixed charge  coverage  ratio and a maximum  leverage  ratio.  If the
Company  is  unable  to meet the  covenant  requirements  or if the  LIBOR  rate
increases, the Company could incur significantly higher borrowing costs.

Rating Agencies.  Certain of the Company's  subsidiaries are subject to scrutiny
by  various  credit  agencies  such as  Standard  &  Poor's,  and  Moody's,  and
policyholder  agencies such as A.M. Best and Duff & Phelps,  as well as agencies
that rate the quality of service to members such as the National  Committee  for
Quality  Assurance  and the Joint  Commission  on  Accreditation  of  Healthcare
Organizations.  A negative rating from such agencies could have an effect on the
Company's  ability to borrow  funds or to  compete  with  other  health  care or
workers'  compensation  insurance  companies in  attracting  members and selling
policies, and ultimately adversely affecting earnings and share price.



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Dependence  on  Management.  The success of the Company has been  dependent to a
large extent upon the efforts of the Company's founder, Anthony M. Marlon, M.D.,
the Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, who has an
employment  agreement with the Company.  Although the Company  believes that the
development of its  management  staff has made the Company less dependent on Dr.
Marlon, the loss of Dr. Marlon could still have a material adverse effect on the
Company's business.

Effect  of  Open  Rating  on  the  Company's  California  Workers'  Compensation
Subsidiary.  CII  Financial,  Inc.  ("CII"),  a  wholly-owned  subsidiary of the
Company,  writes  workers'  compensation  insurance  principally  in California.
Premium rates, which are regulated by the Department of Insurance in California,
have been under significant  pressure and, at times, been required to be reduced
in the  period  from  1992  through  1994.  Pursuant  to  workers'  compensation
legislative reforms enacted in 1993, "open rating" rules replaced "minimum rate"
laws  effective  January 1, 1995.  Under minimum rate laws,  insurers  could not
charge a premium which was less than the published minimum rate and,  therefore,
competed primarily on the basis of service to policyholders,  the level of agent
commissions  and  policyholders'  dividends.  The open  rating  environment  has
resulted  in  lower  premium  rates  and  lower  net  income  to CII in 1995 and
subsequent  years and has brought further  uncertainties to premium revenues and
continued  operating  profits due to increased price competition and the risk of
incurring adverse loss experience over a smaller premium base.

Although CII intends to underwrite  each account taking into  consideration  the
insured's risk profile,  prior loss experience,  loss prevention plans and other
underwriting considerations,  there can be no assurance that CII will be able to
operate   profitably  in  the   California   workers'   compensation   industry,
particularly with open rating, or that future workers' compensation  legislation
will not be adopted in California or other states which might  adversely  affect
CII's  results of  operations.  For the fiscal  year ended  December  31,  1998,
approximately   84%  of  CII's  direct  written  premiums  were  in  California.
Consequently,  CII's operating results are expected to be largely dependent upon
its ability to write profitable workers' compensation insurance in California.

Convertible  Subordinated  Debentures.   CII  has  outstanding  debentures  (the
"Debentures")  totaling $51.3 million.  The ability of CII's  insurance  company
subsidiaries  to upstream  funds to CII to service the  Debentures is limited by
certain  regulatory  restrictions  and  capital  requirements.  Sierra  has  not
directly  assumed  CII's  payment   obligations  under  the  CII  Debentures  or
guaranteed their  repayment.  There can be no assurance that Sierra will be in a
position  to  prevent  a  default  of the  Debentures  in the  future  if  CII's
subsidiaries  are unable to provide  sufficient  funds with which to service the
Debentures.

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                                   SIGNATURES

Pursuant  to the  requirements  of the  Securities  Exchange  Act of  1934,  the
registrant  has duly  caused  this  report  to be  signed  on its  behalf by the
undersigned hereunto duly authorized.


                                          SIERRA HEALTH SERVICES, INC.
                                           (Registrant)


Date:  March 17, 1999                      /S/ PAUL H. PALMER
                                          ---------------------------
                                           Paul H. Palmer
                                           Vice President
                                           Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
                                           (Chief Accounting Officer)

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