From a timely article in Business Insider, let us take a look at the top 15 health insurance executives, in terms of compensation. How can there be any doubt that we need reform? What justifies this? As Anthony Weiner has noted, health care is not a commodity.
15 Executives Who Get Paid Millions To Deny You Health Care Coverage
Gregory White and Gus Lubin | Mar. 19, 2010, 10:42 AM
The business model of American health insurers is basically: try to get healthy customers as clients, and then resist as long as possible when it comes to paying out claims.
That's actually not an indictment or a criticism.
It's just the way our system works, and it's screwed up.
The top five below, ten more if you click the link. The photos alone are enough to scare anyone.
Apologies for the lack of commentary, the article speaks for itself.
CFO George Mikan III, UnitedHealth Group
2008 revenue: $81.2 Billion
Y/Y change: 7.6%
CEO compensation: $6.531 Million
UnitedHealth Group has premium increases of 13-16% in Rhode Island in 2009 alone, according to HealthReform.gov.
Heath Schiesser, WellCare Health Plans
2008 revenue: $6.5 Billion
Y/Y change: 21.0%
CEO compensation: $8.1 Million
WellCare was subject to a government probe after going public in 2007 on the way it paid executives by providing equity up front, a low salary, and further equity in yearly compensation. This hindered its ability to hold on to top talent, according to Tampa Bay Business Journal.
Michael Neidorff, Centene
8 revenue: $3.5 Billion
Y/Y change: 20.1%
CEO compensation: $8.77 Million
Following news that Centene had decreased benefits for the elderly and disabled, shares jumped 9%, according to Forbes (2008).
H Edward Hanway, Cigna
008 revenue: $19.1 Billion
Y/Y change: 8.4%
CEO compensation: $10.27 Million
Cigna is trying to convince its customers to fight for lower prices from the hospitals they visit, according to WSJ.com.
Ronald A Williams, Aetna
2008 revenue: $31.0 Billion
Y/Y change: 12.1%
CEO compensation: $38.12 Million
In order to increase profits year on year from 2009 to 2010, Aetna plans to raise premiums to the point where up to 650,000 people would have to drop their coverage in 2010, according to the Huffington Post.
The rest are:
CFO Joseph Zubretsky, Aetna - $5.57 Million
James Carlson, Amerigroup - $5.29 Million
Stephen Hemsley, UnitedHealth Group - $5.03 Million
Michael McCallister, Humana - $4.76 Million
Angela Braly, WellPoint - $4.07 Million
Richard Barasch, Universal American - $3.5 Million
Allen Wise, Coventry Health Care - $2.6 Million
J. Mario Molina, Molina Health Care - $2.2 Million
Jay Gellert, Health Net - $1.34 Million
Herbert Fritch, HealthSpring - $800,000
So quit your whining about needing that silly little test, or procedure, or treatment that might ease your pain or save your life. Daddy needs a new Gulfstream V!
http://www.bradblog.com/...
WEINER: The problem that we have here is that we’re trying to…rig this system so that insurance companies continue to make healthy profits. Why? …Insurance companies take about $230 billion a year out of the system in profits and overhead. The real question is why we have a private plan?
SCARBOROUGH: Now you’re sounding like you want the government to take over. You say ‘why do we have insurance companies in the health care business because…we believe in free enterprise.
WEINER:...What is the value? What are they providing?
SCARBOROUGH: Well, what’s the value of Wall Street companies making money?
WEINER: …Forty percent of all Americans get their health care from a single-payer, government-funded, government-administered plan. Medicare…Department of Veteran’s Affairs…So they have a pretty good experience of a low overhead thing…I’m not here to advocate for the profits of insurance companies, I’m here to advocate for health care.
SCARBOROUGH:...Well, it sounds like you think there is no need for us to have private insurance….
WEINER: I’ve asked you three times: What is their value? What are they bring to the deal?
SCARBOROUGH: …I’m astounded by your question because your question is suggesting that there is no need to have a country that is run on free market principles. …
WEINER: But this isn’t a commodity, Joe.
SCARBOROUGH: You think that health care is different….
WEINER: What are health insurance plans doing to produce health care? Just tell me.
SCABOROUGH: I don’t even understand the question, other than it’s you trying to make the point that we don’t need private industry involved in health care at all. You are advocating a complete takeover…
WEINER: When you say “takeover,” only as much as the federal government took over health care for seniors 44 years ago.
SCARBOROUGH: But you want to expand that for all Americans…
WEINER:…So they get a 4% overhead, they get efficient reimbursement, there’s no profits being taken by the insurance companies
SCARBOROUGH: Your position is what is scaring a lot of Americans…Those people who are showing up, who say the federal government wants to take over health care. Those people are scared of your position.
What are these outrageously overpaid executives bringing to the table for the customer? Nothing. They answer only to the shareholders. And so they've done very well for themselves financially, and lost their souls.