Sunday, September 16, 2012

Executive Compensation in the Health Insurance Industry

I do not yet have health insurance.  As I begin to shop around for health insurance, I will be asking providers how much they pay their executives.  I would rather subsidize my health care than subsidize their bottom-line.


Compensation for most health plan CEOs rose in 2011 — to $87 million in total


Executives in the top spots at the country’s seven largest publicly traded health plans were paid a collective $87 million for their services in 2011. 
Cigna CEO David Cordani made the most, at $19.1 million. Humana’s Mike McCallister had the smallest compensation package, with $7.3 million. The base pay of most CEOs is around $1 million, because of tax rules on executive salaries. But in every case, other financial rewards pushed the total pay packages into the multimillions. In 2011, Cordani made 94 times the average primary care physician’s compensation, using the latest Medical Group Management Assn. figures.
I will be avoiding the country's seven largest publicly traded health plans, including Humana.