• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

PNHP

  • About PNHP
    • Mission Statement
    • Board of Directors
    • National Office Staff
    • Speakers Bureau
    • Local Chapters
    • Students for a National Health Program
    • Contact Us
    • Privacy Policy
  • About Single Payer
    • What is Single Payer?
      • Policy Details
      • FAQs
      • History of Health Reform
      • Información en Español
    • How do we pay for it?
    • Physicians’ Proposal
      • Full Proposal
      • Supplemental Materials
      • Media Coverage
    • The Medicare for All Act of 2025
  • Take Action
    • Moral Injury and Distress
    • Medical Society Resolutions
    • Recruit Colleagues
    • Schedule a Grand Rounds
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Lobby Visits
    • Organizing in Red Districts
  • Heal Medicare
    • HealMedicare.org
    • Sign our Petition
    • Take our Survey
    • Medicare Disadvantage
    • Stop REACH
  • Kitchen Table Campaign
    • Medicare Disadvantage
    • Maternal Mortality
    • Mental Health Care
    • Health Care Voters Guide
    • COVID-19 Endangers Health Workers
    • COVID-19 Exacerbates Racial Inequities
    • Public Health Emergencies
    • Rural Health Care
    • Racial Health Inequities
    • Surprise Billing
  • Latest News
    • Sign up for e-alerts
    • Medicare Advantage harms report
    • Members in the news
    • Health Justice Monitor
    • Articles of Interest
    • Latest Research
    • For the Press
  • Member Resources
    • 2024 Annual Meeting Materials
    • Newsletter
    • Slideshows
    • Materials & Handouts
    • Kitchen Table Campaign
    • COVID-19 Response
      • Why we Need Medicare for All
      • PNHP’s 8-point plan
      • New Study: Perils and Possibilities
      • Emergency COVID-19 Legislation
      • Kitchen Table Toolkit
      • Take Action on COVID-19
      • Telling your COVID-19 story
      • PNHP members in the news
    • Events Calendar
    • Webinars
    • Film Room
    • Join or renew your membership
  • Home
  • Contact PNHP
  • Join PNHP
  • Donate
  • PNHP Store

Articles of Interest

15 Executives Who Get Paid Millions To Deny You Health Care Coverage

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

By Business insider, Wall St. Cheat Sheet
March 20, 2010

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.

Whatever you feel about Obamacare, you probably think our current system needs reform in some sense.

Below we present the posterboys of the problem. Top healthcare CEOs making millions, leading companies that deny you coverage.


Herbert Fritch, HealthSpring

2008 revenue: $2.2 Billion
Y/Y change: 39.0%

CEO compensation: $800,000

HealthSpring earnings rose by 33% in the Q409 thanks to a 26 percent increase in premiums, according to BizJournal.

Said Fritch: “We are pleased with out operating results in 2009. Moving to 2010, our Medicare Advantage membership has increased despite the fact that we reduced benefits across many of our markets in response to Medicare rate cuts.”

Source: Fortune


Jay Gellert, Health Net

2008 revenue: $15.4 Billion
Y/Y change: 8.9%

CEO compensation: $1.34 Million

Health Net increased the premiums of just one small business in New Jersey 124% in 2010. The company blamed the changes on changing demographics at the small business, according to WSJ.com.

Source: Forbes and Fortune


J. Mario Molina, Molina Health Care

2008 revenue: $3.1 Billion
Y/Y change: 24.9%

CEO compensation: $2.2 Million

Molina boosted profits more than any other Michigan HMO in 2008, according to Crain’s.

Source: Fortune


Allen Wise, Coventry Health Care

2008 revenue: $11.9 Billion
Y/Y change: 20.6%

CEO compensation: $2.6 Million

3.2% of Coventry’s revenues end up as pure profit for the company, according to Fortune.

Source: Forbes


Richard Barasch, Universal American

2008 revenue: $4.6 Billion
Y/Y change: 53.5%

CEO compensation: $3.5 Million

After taking a pay cut from 2006 to 2007, Barasch more than doubled his total compensation for 2008, jumping up from $1,564,293 in 2007, according to FierceHealthCare.

Source: Fortune and Forbes


Angela Braly, WellPoint

2008 revenue: $61.2 Billion
Y/Y change: 0.2%

CEO compensation: $4.07 Million

WellPoint has given on $6.2 million towards helping uninsured individuals find insurance and receive care, only one-fifth of what was promised according to the LA Times.

Source: Forbes and Fortune


Michael McCallister, Humana

2008 revenue: $28.9 Billion
Y/Y change: 14.5%

CEO compensation: $4.76 Million

CEO McCallister considers the use of the company’s aircraft part of his compensation, including the use of the jet for family, according to FierceHealthCare.

Source: Fortune and FierceHealthcare


Stephen Hemsley, UnitedHealth Group

2008 revenue: $81.2 Billion
Y/Y change: 7.6%

CEO compensation: $5.03 Million

United Health has raised premiums on the town of Weston, Connecticut 23.5%. The town only budgeted for a 5% increase, according to The Weston Forum.

Source: Forbes and Fortune


James Carlson, Amerigroup

2008 revenue: $4.5 Billion
Y/Y change: 14.5%

CEO compensation: $5.29 Million

Amerigroup was sued in 2008 for excluding pregnant women and unhealthy patients from Medicaid, according to Reuters. The insurer paid $225 million in a settlement.

Source: Fortune and FierceHealthCare


CFO Joseph Zubretsky, Aetna

2008 revenue: $31.0 Billion
Y/Y change: 12.1%

CFO compensation: $5.57 Million

Aetna has boosted premiums on small businesses in New York 20% this year, according to the New York Post.

Source: Fortune


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.

Source: Fortune


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 compensa
tion. This hindered its ability to hold on to top talent, according to Tampa Bay Business Journal.

Source: Fortune and Tampa Bay Business Journal


Michael Neidorff, Centene

2008 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).

Source: Fortune and FierceHealthCare


H Edward Hanway, Cigna

2008 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.

Source: Forbes and Fortune


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.

Source: Forbes and Fortune

http://wallstcheatsheet.com/breaking-news/15-executives-who-get-paid-millions-to-deny-you-health-care-coverage.html

Media Coverage

15 Executives Who Get Paid Millions To Deny You Health Care Coverage

Business insider, Wall St. Cheat Sheet

Read More

Primary Sidebar

Recent Articles of Interest

  • The Case for Single-Payer
  • The U.S. Healthcare System in Conversation with Dr. Don McCanne
  • Medicare Enrollment Proposals Would Speed Shift to Private Care
  • Trump’s CMS dramatically raises payments to Medicare Advantage plans
  • Medicaid cuts? Work requirements? They'd make health care worse for all.
  • About PNHP
    • Mission Statement
    • Board of Directors
    • National Office Staff
    • Speakers Bureau
    • Local Chapters
    • Students for a National Health Program
    • Contact Us
    • Privacy Policy
  • About Single Payer
    • What is Single Payer?
      • Policy Details
      • FAQs
      • History of Health Reform
      • Información en Español
    • How do we pay for it?
    • Physicians’ Proposal
      • Full Proposal
      • Supplemental Materials
      • Media Coverage
    • The Medicare for All Act of 2025
  • Take Action
    • Moral Injury and Distress
    • Medical Society Resolutions
    • Recruit Colleagues
    • Schedule a Grand Rounds
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Lobby Visits
    • Organizing in Red Districts
  • Heal Medicare
    • HealMedicare.org
    • Sign our Petition
    • Take our Survey
    • Medicare Disadvantage
    • Stop REACH
  • Kitchen Table Campaign
    • Medicare Disadvantage
    • Maternal Mortality
    • Mental Health Care
    • Health Care Voters Guide
    • COVID-19 Endangers Health Workers
    • COVID-19 Exacerbates Racial Inequities
    • Public Health Emergencies
    • Rural Health Care
    • Racial Health Inequities
    • Surprise Billing
  • Latest News
    • Sign up for e-alerts
    • Medicare Advantage harms report
    • Members in the news
    • Health Justice Monitor
    • Articles of Interest
    • Latest Research
    • For the Press
  • Member Resources
    • 2024 Annual Meeting Materials
    • Newsletter
    • Slideshows
    • Materials & Handouts
    • Kitchen Table Campaign
    • COVID-19 Response
      • Why we Need Medicare for All
      • PNHP’s 8-point plan
      • New Study: Perils and Possibilities
      • Emergency COVID-19 Legislation
      • Kitchen Table Toolkit
      • Take Action on COVID-19
      • Telling your COVID-19 story
      • PNHP members in the news
    • Events Calendar
    • Webinars
    • Film Room
    • Join or renew your membership

Footer

  • About PNHP
    • Mission Statement
    • Board of Directors
    • National Office Staff
    • Speakers Bureau
    • Local Chapters
    • Students for a National Health Program
    • Contact Us
    • Privacy Policy
  • About Single Payer
    • What is Single Payer?
      • Policy Details
      • FAQs
      • History of Health Reform
      • Información en Español
    • How do we pay for it?
    • Physicians’ Proposal
      • Full Proposal
      • Supplemental Materials
      • Media Coverage
    • The Medicare for All Act of 2025
  • Take Action
    • Moral Injury and Distress
    • Medical Society Resolutions
    • Recruit Colleagues
    • Schedule a Grand Rounds
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Lobby Visits
    • Organizing in Red Districts
  • Heal Medicare
    • HealMedicare.org
    • Sign our Petition
    • Take our Survey
    • Medicare Disadvantage
    • Stop REACH
  • Kitchen Table Campaign
    • Medicare Disadvantage
    • Maternal Mortality
    • Mental Health Care
    • Health Care Voters Guide
    • COVID-19 Endangers Health Workers
    • COVID-19 Exacerbates Racial Inequities
    • Public Health Emergencies
    • Rural Health Care
    • Racial Health Inequities
    • Surprise Billing
  • Latest News
    • Sign up for e-alerts
    • Medicare Advantage harms report
    • Members in the news
    • Health Justice Monitor
    • Articles of Interest
    • Latest Research
    • For the Press
  • Member Resources
    • 2024 Annual Meeting Materials
    • Newsletter
    • Slideshows
    • Materials & Handouts
    • Kitchen Table Campaign
    • COVID-19 Response
      • Why we Need Medicare for All
      • PNHP’s 8-point plan
      • New Study: Perils and Possibilities
      • Emergency COVID-19 Legislation
      • Kitchen Table Toolkit
      • Take Action on COVID-19
      • Telling your COVID-19 story
      • PNHP members in the news
    • Events Calendar
    • Webinars
    • Film Room
    • Join or renew your membership
©2025 PNHP