HCAN Agrees $57,000/hour is Outrageous
Health Care Campaign Expresses Support for
Senator Lincoln’s Amendment Limiting Executive Compensation
Washington, DC –Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), backed by New Jersey Senators Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez , has introduced an amendment limiting executive compensation for health insurance companies. Health Care for America Now (HCAN) - the nation’s largest health care campaign - voices strong support for such legislation to rein in an industry whose top executives are milking our dysfunctional health care system for everything they can get. At least one industry executive, UnitedHealth Group Inc. CEO Stephen Hemsley, makes $57,000 an hour.
HCAN ran a TV ad in October called “Mansion” that juxtaposed the home of the obscenely wealthy Hemsley with an average middle-class home, one that a family would be forced to give up because it could no longer afford the payments. More than 60 percent of personal bankruptcies are caused at least in part by medical debt.
Ten of the largest health insurance companies have collectively paid their CEOs more than $690 million over the past nine years. For example, UnitedHealth Group’s CEO made $27.6 million in 2006. That same year, WellPoint’s CEO brought home $23.9 million, CIGNA gave its CEO $21 million, and Aetna’s CEO made $19.8 million. See the full chart online here (pdf).
At the same time, those 10 insurance companies reported more than $59.5 billion in profits. A full chart of Major U.S. Health Insurers’ Net Income can be seen here (pdf).
“We’re glad that Senator Lincoln recognizes the role insurance company greed plays in contributing to the extremely high cost of health care for consumers,” said Richard Kirsch, National Campaign Manager, Health Care for America Now. “Our premiums keep going up, and they keep lining their pockets with profits. Senator Lincoln’s amendment helps guarantee our hard-earned money goes towards medical care - and bolstering Medicare – and not making sure health insurance CEOs can afford more expensive cars and bigger mansions.”
