part of the reason health care costs so much

Pepe Silvia · July 2009

http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/special ... tions-2008

last year:

Ron Williams, CEO of Aetna, made $24,300,112
H. Edward Hanway, CEO of Cigna, made $12,236,740
Angela Braly, CEO of WellPoint, made $9,844,212
Dale Wolf, CEO of Coventry Health Care, made $9,047,469
Michael Neidorff, CEO of Centene, made $8,774,483
James Carlson, CEO of AMERIGROUP, made $5,292,546
Michael McCalliste, CEO of Humana, made $4,764,309
Jay Gellert, CEO of Health Net, made $4,425,355
Richard Barasch, CEO of Universal American, made $3,503,702
Stephen Hemsley, CEO of UnitedHealth Group, made $3,241,042

some of these CEO's compensation included personal travel on the company jet for the family. Ron Williams has been well rewarded for dropping 8 million customers who were using their health insurance too much and 15,000 employees

Jeanwah · July 2009

Many of these insurance companies were clients for a publishing company I used to worked for. And I'm not surprised of these figures.

Although the largest and most difficult client we had - Kaiser Permanente - is not on your list? I can't imagine what he'd make. Kaiser was in Sicko for changing the rules in Washington regarding health insurance companies...

decides2dream · July 2009

indeed!
and really, are these positions 'necessary'....as in, for caring for HEALTH? no. the are necessary for running a profitable business. if we weren't running healthcare like a business venture to enrichen stockholders financially, and only focused on trying to enrichen people's lives with improved HEALTH....it would be a very different story.

jlew24asu · July 2009

I heart Scout Niblett wrote:

http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/special-reports/total-package-health-plan-ceo-compensations-2008

last year:

Ron Williams, CEO of Aetna, made $24,300,112
H. Edward Hanway, CEO of Cigna, made $12,236,740
Angela Braly, CEO of WellPoint, made $9,844,212
Dale Wolf, CEO of Coventry Health Care, made $9,047,469
Michael Neidorff, CEO of Centene, made $8,774,483
James Carlson, CEO of AMERIGROUP, made $5,292,546
Michael McCalliste, CEO of Humana, made $4,764,309
Jay Gellert, CEO of Health Net, made $4,425,355
Richard Barasch, CEO of Universal American, made $3,503,702
Stephen Hemsley, CEO of UnitedHealth Group, made $3,241,042

some of these CEO's received compensation for traveling on the company jet! Ron Williams has been well rewarded for dropping 8 million customers who were using their health insurance too much and 15,000 employees

WOW, just wow. this is the most misleading thing I've ever seen.

I'll take the top guy as an example and this applies to EVERYONE on that little list.

Ron Williams - Aetna

Total Compensation: $24,300,112

Details: Williams earned $24,300,112 in total compensation for 2008, with more than half of that ($13,537,365) coming from option awards. He also received an additional $6,456,630 in stock awards to go along with his base salary of $1,091,764.

stock options as well as stock awards is money that comes from OUTSIDE investors who buy stock in the company. that has NOTHING to do with the cost of healthcare.

the one million salary, sure that does but o well. dont get me started on CEO pay. there is nothing wrong with it.

soulsinging · July 2009

jlew24asu wrote:

I heart Scout Niblett wrote:

http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/special-reports/total-package-health-plan-ceo-compensations-2008

last year:

Ron Williams, CEO of Aetna, made $24,300,112
H. Edward Hanway, CEO of Cigna, made $12,236,740
Angela Braly, CEO of WellPoint, made $9,844,212
Dale Wolf, CEO of Coventry Health Care, made $9,047,469
Michael Neidorff, CEO of Centene, made $8,774,483
James Carlson, CEO of AMERIGROUP, made $5,292,546
Michael McCalliste, CEO of Humana, made $4,764,309
Jay Gellert, CEO of Health Net, made $4,425,355
Richard Barasch, CEO of Universal American, made $3,503,702
Stephen Hemsley, CEO of UnitedHealth Group, made $3,241,042

some of these CEO's received compensation for traveling on the company jet! Ron Williams has been well rewarded for dropping 8 million customers who were using their health insurance too much and 15,000 employees

WOW, just wow. this is the most misleading thing I've ever seen.

I'll take the top guy as an example and this applies to EVERYONE on that little list.

Ron Williams - Aetna

Total Compensation: $24,300,112

Details: Williams earned $24,300,112 in total compensation for 2008, with more than half of that ($13,537,365) coming from option awards. He also received an additional $6,456,630 in stock awards to go along with his base salary of $1,091,764.

stock options as well as stock awards is money that comes from OUTSIDE investors who buy stock in the company. that has NOTHING to do with the cost of healthcare.

the one million salary, sure that does but o well. dont get me started on CEO pay. there is nothing wrong with it.

Are you joking? How does stock price go up? Increased profits to make more desirable dividends. How do you increase profits? Cut expenses and payouts and hike your rates. Stock options create a very powerful incentive for short term gain at the expense of long-term stability and customer care. It's all part of our slash and burn economy.

_ · July 2009

jlew24asu wrote:

WOW, just wow. this is the most misleading thing I've ever seen.

Wait - you mean you didn't actually read the article you posted in the abortion thread then?

jlew24asu · July 2009

soulsinging wrote:

Are you joking? How does stock price go up? Increased profits to make more desirable dividends. How do you increase profits? Cut expenses and payouts and hike your rates. Stock options create a very powerful incentive for short term gain at the expense of long-term stability and customer care. It's all part of our slash and burn economy.

no, I'm not joking. this article and thread would like you to believe that all this money are direct reasons why health care costs are high. thats simply not true.

and what you mentioned is not the only way to increase profits....its gaining new customers is what really drives profit. and with so competition, prices dont fly out of control.

jlew24asu · July 2009

scb wrote:

jlew24asu wrote:

WOW, just wow. this is the most misleading thing I've ever seen.

Wait - you mean you didn't actually read the article you posted in the abortion thread then?

ha. touche

Indifference · July 2009

Well here is another major reason:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSe3C5vMafM

jlew24asu · July 2009

Indifference wrote:

Well here is another major reason:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSe3C5vMafM

yup, there are millions of people who pay NOTHING into the system yet have access to our healthcare system. I'm all for helping those people but Americans simply cant afford to anymore.

and what really drives the cost of care up is how FAT Americans have gotten along with smoking. there are just too many people who need care and not enough people to take care of them. supply and demand usually always works.

decides2dream · July 2009

jlew24asu wrote:

soulsinging wrote:

Are you joking? How does stock price go up? Increased profits to make more desirable dividends. How do you increase profits? Cut expenses and payouts and hike your rates. Stock options create a very powerful incentive for short term gain at the expense of long-term stability and customer care. It's all part of our slash and burn economy.

no, I'm not joking. this article and thread would like you to believe that all this money are direct reasons why health care costs are high. thats simply not true.

and what you mentioned is not the only way to increase profits....its gaining new customers is what really drives profit. and with so competition, prices dont fly out of control.

and if we didn't run healthcare as means to make profit, but focus solely on HEALTHCARE....none of that would even matter.

(and i know this is where you say w/o competition and profit there is no motivation for quality care...that our quality of care will be in the toilet, yada, yada.....and yea....i completely disagree)

Pepe Silvia · July 2009

jlew24asu wrote:

soulsinging wrote:

Are you joking? How does stock price go up? Increased profits to make more desirable dividends. How do you increase profits? Cut expenses and payouts and hike your rates. Stock options create a very powerful incentive for short term gain at the expense of long-term stability and customer care. It's all part of our slash and burn economy.

no, I'm not joking. this article and thread would like you to believe that all this money are direct reasons why health care costs are high. thats simply not true.

and what you mentioned is not the only way to increase profits....its gaining new customers is what really drives profit. and with so competition, prices dont fly out of control.

he also created a system to find companies and people they thought used insurance too much and raised their rates to absurd amounts and was able to dump 8 million customers this way to save Aetna money...obviously he was looking to save money, not help customers

they also received other compensation like personal use of the company jet

Gern Blansten · July 2009

jlew24asu wrote:

I heart Scout Niblett wrote:

http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/special-reports/total-package-health-plan-ceo-compensations-2008

last year:

Ron Williams, CEO of Aetna, made $24,300,112
H. Edward Hanway, CEO of Cigna, made $12,236,740
Angela Braly, CEO of WellPoint, made $9,844,212
Dale Wolf, CEO of Coventry Health Care, made $9,047,469
Michael Neidorff, CEO of Centene, made $8,774,483
James Carlson, CEO of AMERIGROUP, made $5,292,546
Michael McCalliste, CEO of Humana, made $4,764,309
Jay Gellert, CEO of Health Net, made $4,425,355
Richard Barasch, CEO of Universal American, made $3,503,702
Stephen Hemsley, CEO of UnitedHealth Group, made $3,241,042

some of these CEO's received compensation for traveling on the company jet! Ron Williams has been well rewarded for dropping 8 million customers who were using their health insurance too much and 15,000 employees

WOW, just wow. this is the most misleading thing I've ever seen.

I'll take the top guy as an example and this applies to EVERYONE on that little list.

Ron Williams - Aetna

Total Compensation: $24,300,112

Details: Williams earned $24,300,112 in total compensation for 2008, with more than half of that ($13,537,365) coming from option awards. He also received an additional $6,456,630 in stock awards to go along with his base salary of $1,091,764.

stock options as well as stock awards is money that comes from OUTSIDE investors who buy stock in the company. that has NOTHING to do with the cost of healthcare.

the one million salary, sure that does but o well. dont get me started on CEO pay. there is nothing wrong with it.

actually those options are the result of "Treasury Stock" which is stock that the company has bought back from shareholders....so it is incorrect to say that it doesn't come from the company

polaris_x · July 2009

it's simple ... health care costs are so high because of 2 main things:

1. people are unhealthy
2. everyone in the health care chain has to make a significant buck

jlew24asu · July 2009

polaris_x wrote:

it's simple ... health care costs are so high because of 2 main things:

1. people are unhealthy
2. everyone in the health care chain has to make a significant buck

I'm glad you put that #1. that is by far the top reason. but in regards to #2, its also that we demand high levels of specialized care, which is expensive.. but this leads to high quality of care that we want.

Pepe Silvia · July 2009

jlew24asu wrote:

polaris_x wrote:

it's simple ... health care costs are so high because of 2 main things:

1. people are unhealthy
2. everyone in the health care chain has to make a significant buck

I'm glad you put that #1. that is by far the top reason. but in regards to #2, its also that we demand high levels of specialized care, which is expensive.. but this leads to high quality of care that we want.

and because health insurance companies need to make more and more profit every quarter. Aetna wasn't making enough of a profit for their liking so they replaced the CEO with Ron WIlliams who went about raising premiums on companies and individuals whose use of their insurance benefits cut into Aetna's profits....so they targeted these people and raised their rates to absurd levels and was able to get rid of 8 million customers increasing their profits (he also laid off 15,000 employees)

didn't those 8 million people deserve high quality care???

Jeanwah · July 2009

polaris_x wrote:

it's simple ... health care costs are so high because of 2 main things:

1. people are unhealthy
2. everyone in the health care chain has to make a significant buck

I've noticed in my last two jobs in the last 8 years, that companies are offering wellness programs and incentives to keep employees healthy. It's an obvious move to save money, as well as keep people informed about having a healthy lifestyle (I loved the fitness center at both companies) as well as fewer lost work days due to sick days.

Healthier staff = more days worked and less money spent on health care.

Gern Blansten · July 2009

Jeanwah wrote:

polaris_x wrote:

it's simple ... health care costs are so high because of 2 main things:

1. people are unhealthy
2. everyone in the health care chain has to make a significant buck

I've noticed in my last two jobs in the last 8 years, that companies are offering wellness programs and incentives to keep employees healthy. It's an obvious move to save money, as well as keep people informed about having a healthy lifestyle (I loved the fitness center at both companies) as well as fewer lost work days due to sick days.

Healthier staff = more days worked and less money spent on health care.

yeah I wondered if they got some kind of discount on their group health insurance for creating a wellness program

jlew24asu · July 2009

I heart Scout Niblett wrote:

and because health insurance companies need to make more and more profit every quarter. Aetna wasn't making enough of a profit for their liking so they replaced the CEO with Ron WIlliams who went about raising premiums on companies and individuals whose use of their insurance benefits cut into Aetna's profits....so they targeted these people and raised their rates to absurd levels and was able to get rid of 8 million customers increasing their profits (he also laid off 15,000 employees)

ok and? Aetna is not the only player in the game. those 8 million people are free to move on to a cheaper alternative....

I heart Scout Niblett wrote:

didn't those 8 million people deserve high quality care???

deserve it? I dont know. never met any of those 8 million people.

polaris_x · July 2009

Jeanwah wrote:

polaris_x wrote:

it's simple ... health care costs are so high because of 2 main things:

1. people are unhealthy
2. everyone in the health care chain has to make a significant buck

I've noticed in my last two jobs in the last 8 years, that companies are offering wellness programs and incentives to keep employees healthy. It's an obvious move to save money, as well as keep people informed about having a healthy lifestyle (I loved the fitness center at both companies) as well as fewer lost work days due to sick days.

Healthier staff = more days worked and less money spent on health care.

makes perfect sense

jlew24asu · July 2009

Jeanwah wrote:

polaris_x wrote:

it's simple ... health care costs are so high because of 2 main things:

1. people are unhealthy
2. everyone in the health care chain has to make a significant buck

I've noticed in my last two jobs in the last 8 years, that companies are offering wellness programs and incentives to keep employees healthy. It's an obvious move to save money, as well as keep people informed about having a healthy lifestyle (I loved the fitness center at both companies) as well as fewer lost work days due to sick days.

Healthier staff = more days worked and less money spent on health care.

Obama should give companies like this tax breaks or huge incentives to do just this.

part of the reason health care costs so much

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