Health Insurance Company CEOs Total Compensation in 2008

photo by wardomatic via flickr

A few months back we posted the Total Compensation for a number of Health Insurance Company CEOs for 2007. Those numbers, culled from the companies’ SEC filings (Schedule 14A) appears immediately below. Below that are the numbers for 2008, courtesy of FierceHealthcare.com through Jan Rodolpho, RN.

As you can see, the year has brought decreases for some CEOs (but not all). One wonders, discretion being the better part of valor, if the clamor for health care reform and the pursuit of a Public Plan, has counseled caution –for the time being– regarding executive compensation. If the timing for further compensation has merely been adjusted so as to backload payments until after the health care reform debate is settled. Either way, the numbers pretty much speak for themselves. Perhaps a slight bit of context is in order, however: it has struck me that Aetna’s Ronald Williams received $24,300,112 last year. That’s $467,309.85 per week. That’s a house. Maybe not a house that Mr. Williams would live in, but a house nonetheless. The man makes a house a week. And interestingly enough, if Mr. Williams were to eschew the purchase of a house on any given week and instead look to deposit the money in a bank– in order to remain FDIC insured (up to $250,000)– he would actually need to open more than one account–every week. Lest we lament the fate of the other CEOs on the list, in 2008 Ms. Braly had to get by on $189,311.76 per week, and Mr. Hemsley had to somehow manage on $62,327.73 per week (but perhaps he was able to save a little from last year when he made $253,164.02 per week).

Res Ipsa Loquitur.

Ins. Co. & CEO With 2007 Total CEO Compensation

• Aetna Ronald A. Williams: $23,045,834
• Cigna H. Edward Hanway: $25,839,777
• Coventry Dale B. Wolf : $14,869,823
• Health Net Jay M. Gellert: $3,686,230
• Humana Michael McCallister: $10,312,557
• U.Health Grp Stephen J. Hemsley: $13,164,529
• WellPoint Angela Braly (2007): $9,094,271
  L. Glasscock (2006): $23,886,169

Ins. Co. & CEO With 2008 Total CEO Compensation

• Aetna, Ronald A. Williams: $24,300,112
• Cigna, H. Edward Hanway: $12,236,740
• Coventry, Dale Wolf: $9,047,469
• Health Net, Jay Gellert: $4,425,355
• Humana, Michael McCallister: $4,764,309
• U. Health Group, Stephen J. Hemsley: $3,241,042
• Wellpoint, Angela Braly: $9,844,212

See Nonprofit Health Related CEO Compensation Here.

Update: “Why WellPoint’s Angela Braly Deserves A Raise”

Health Care Reform and the Public Insurance Plan: “Framing the Debate,” and Fording the Corporate Dam of Shareholder Wealth Maximization

Photo by WyrdLight via Wikimedia Commons

Kaiser.org has recently noted that “Liberal and conservative interest groups ‘have begun a fierce ideological battle, with each side trying to shape the public’s perception of a public insurance plan,’ the Christian Science Monitor reports.”

Kaiser states:

The Health Policy Consensus Group, a coalition of conservative interest groups spearheaded by the Heritage Foundation, listed the creation of a public insurance option as the No. 1 “deal killer” for health care reform. The group argues that the government would use its “regulatory, pricing, and taxing authority” to make it nearly impossible for private insurers to compete, leaving U.S. residents without a private alternative.”

Let’s attempt to understand the argument against a public insurance plan. To do so, I would suggest that it will be of some help to understand the nature of a “public plan,” and, perhaps just as importantly, where the interests lie.

When we speak of “a public insurance plan,” we speak essentially of expansion, not creation: Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP are “public plans,” as are those administered by the Veterans Administration and the Indian Health Service.  At present, however, these plans are tailored to bring medical care to people who meet certain criteria. At present, this country is estimated to have close to 50 million people who are uninsured: primarily people who either lack the money or employment requisite to obtain private health insurance or who fail to meet the criteria requisite for enrollment in any of the public plans as they are presently configured.

The “public plan” proposal would expand the criteria for enrollment in extant “public plans” and perhaps constitute other service providers to administer to the need.   So…the argument against a public plan is essentially an argument against making these plans (or very similar plans) available to a greater number of people. Why? Simply put, those who would be serviced by an expanded “public plan” would thereby be rendered unavailable to Private Insurers as customers and generally speaking, less customers = less profit.

Understandably, those who oppose a “public plan,” such as America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), have proposed that as a means of achieving universal coverage, all Americans should be forced (”mandated”) to purchase health insurance from, well, Private Insurers. The plan calls for the Government to subsidize this purchase of private insurance. Given that there are close to 50 million uninsured, this would result in an increase of tens of millions of paying customers for Private Insurers.  This proposal has been rather aptly compared by Jeff Emanuel of The American Spectator to an automaker bailout which would require each American to buy a car.

The Heritage Foundation’s Health Policy Consensus Group, opposed to a public plan, is said to argue that with the advent of an expanded public plan

“the government would use its “regulatory, pricing, and taxing authority” to make it nearly impossible for private insurers to compete….”

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