Here's one reason your health insurance costs so much

http://www.startribune.com/stories/535/4718831.html

UnitedHealth CEO is state's highest-paid

The highest-paid corporate executive in Minnesota last year was UnitedHealth Group Inc. Chairman and Chief Executive Dr. William McGuire, who received $94.2 million in total compensation, or 10 times what he netted a year earlier, according to corporate documents released Monday.
McGuire's largest source of income came from the exercise and sale of 1.9 million shares of UnitedHealth stock, which netted him $84.2 million.

Base salary for McGuire increased 5.3 percent to $1,996,000 from $1,896,000. McGuire's 2003 bonus increased 5.2 percent to $5.5 million. McGuire also collected $1.9 million under a long-term performance incentive and received other payments totaling $558,345.
The UnitedHealth board of directors also awarded McGuire 1.3 million shares in stock options with a potential value of $32.8 million.
News of McGuire's healthy 2003 payday followed a banner year for the Minnetonka-based UnitedHealth Group, which hit $28.8 billion in revenue and had record earnings of $2.9 billion.

Not included in total compensation is the value of unexercised and newly issued stock options. McGuire is sitting on more than 17 million exercisable and unexercisable options, which the company values at more than $721.8 million.

UnitedHealth's proxy statement, which contained McGuire's compensation information, also reported the compensation packages of the four other top-paid executives at the company. They are Stephen Hemsley, president and chief operating officer, $39.2 million; Robert Sheehy, chief executive of UnitedHealthcare, $10.7 million; R. Channing Wheeler, chief executive of Uniprise, $9.3 million, and David Lubben, general counsel, $7.5 million.

:kick:

executives has been happening across the board since the late eighties. Health care reformers have attempted to expose this shameful exploitation of health care dollars, yet it continues to this day because their paid lobbyists and paid publicists will swat down any attempt to have some dialogue about this. Grass roots efforts are essentially left hanging out on the line.

I have often said that people with no conscience become serial killers or CEOs.

Rather than complain about the short service offered by these crooks why not start our own biz and undercut these crooks out of business?

Don't you think someone would have done that by now? I don't think it is as simple as that, unfortunately.

the government as single-payer like they have in Canada, but these sharks undercut any attempts to get legislation in that would accomplish this.

is because the insurance companies are trying to make up for money lost in the stock market over the last three years. Heard this from a consumer advocate group who debunked the myth that malpractice insurance is so high because of high payouts for lawsuits.

The republicans want you to believe it's lawyers, but they hate the poor being able to sue incompentance in the medical industries.

Corporations are the republican party.

insurance. It's a necessity, like food, and people deserve access to the health care they need when they need it, not when they can afford it. It shouldn't be traded on the stock market at all. If all the money put into health care today, were managed properly, everyone in America could get the health care they need. It would cost about $2,500 a year per person as contrary to the $4,000 to $4,500 half per person it costs now and it would cover everyone, not just those who have a health plan from work.

employees are not that well compensated. As a matter of fact, UHC likes to layoff people anytime their stock price dips. They are also one of the companies named on Lou Dobbs' program as outsourcing various functions. I have heard some of their customer service is done in India. Some claims are processed in Jamaica and Ireland.

Another thing about United HealthCare that I should add...when I worked there in the late 1990s Walter Mondale (VP under Carter and 1984 presidential candidate) was on the board of directors. I don't know if he still is, but it's a good gig so I would not be surprised to find he is still there.


Here's another one that will tick you off.....
Wellpoint, Inc which owns MANY Blue Cross plans across the country including the one in California and Missouri was bought out by another insurance company that owns MANY Blue Cross plans across the country, Anthem. Leonard Schaeffer is the CEO of Wellpoint and will not be CEO of the combined organization. Here is an article from October 2003 that details how RICH Schaeffer will become should the Wellpoint/Anthem merger be approved....

http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/healthcare/nw/nw003806.php3

WELLPOINT'S CEO MAY REAP RICHES;
POTENTIAL WINDFALL RAISES QUESTIONS
The chief executive officer of WellPoint Health Networks Inc. will see his salary swell by tens of millions of dollars should the company's $16.4 billion merger with Anthem Inc. receive approval.

Leonard Schaeffer's WellPoint holdings include 3.3 million shares, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing - which has vaulted in excess of $70 million to more than $300 million in recent days.

Schaeffer will receive a lump sum of $27.5 million in salary and bonus compensation and about $10 million more in retirement benefits if the Anthem deal closes, according to Ken Ferber, a spokesman for Thousand Oaks-based WellPoint. Schaeffer, currently chairman and chief executive officer of WellPoint, will be the chairman of the combined company.

I still don't have health care. I have a health plan but no health care because I have a $3,000 deductible. I only have this just in case for catastrophic coverage, yet on my income it's a huge chunk I am paying for nothing.

premium because Leonard Schaeffer really needs the money.

/sarcasm off....

I am SO thankful to have employer sponsored health insurance but it is not something I take for granted. One would be a fool to take health insurance for granted in the good ole US of A.

Hear, hear!

And the new (maybe he's been there for a year or two) head of Kaiser-Permanente in Northern California is from Minnesota, if memory serves, where he earned less than a million a year, and now earns several multiples of that. It would be good to trace the career paths of this crew, and post their bio's and earnings on the Web.

Meanwhile, at work our KP payments jumped 40% last year when two of us hit birthdays (40 and 60), while the quality of the healthcare remained lousy.

Unfortunately this is a subscription site (oh I wish I could afford it because there seems to be a WEALTH of information!)
MCO: Managed Care Organization.


http://www.corporateresearchgroup.com/pub/healthcare/news/companies/369-1.html

April 13, 2004

GLASSCOCK OF ANTHEM TOPS IN COMPENSATION
Larry Glasscock, chief executive of Anthem Inc. (Indianapolis), received $46.2 million in compensation in 2003, not including stock options, according to the company’s 2004 proxy statement, making him the highest paid executive among leading managed care organizations that have released executive pay information to date.


http://www.corporateresearchgroup.com/pub/healthcare/news/companies/370-1.html

April 13, 2004

STOCK OPTIONS FLOW AT TOP MCOs
Larry Glasscock, chief executive of Anthem Inc. (Indianapolis), received 200,000 stock options in 2003 valued at $22.9 million assuming 10% annual appreciation, according to the company’s 2004 proxy statement.