Blue Shield of California reveals pay for 10 highest paid executives
Chief Executive Paul Markovich made $3.5 million last year -- a 40 percent increase since he took the top job in 2013.
Blue Shield of California Corporate Headquarters-San Francisco, CA. Photo via Google.
In its first detailed disclosure on executive pay, nonprofit Blue Shield of California said Chief Executive Paul Markovich made $3.5 million last year -- a 40 percent increase since he took the top job in 2013.
The San Francisco-based health insurer has faced criticism for years from consumer advocates about its lack of transparency on executive compensation, and the issue attracted even more scrutiny after a state audit raised questions about the insurer's big pay increases.
In 2014, following that audit, the state revoked Blue Shield's state tax exemption, which it had held since its founding in 1939.
In the report issued Thursday, Blue Shield for the first time listed total compensation for its 10-highest paid executives by name. The company also offered details, such as base salary and incentive awards.
Markovich made $2.5 million in 2013, $3 million the following year and $3.5 million last year. That 2015 compensation included a base salary of $1.07 million and incentive plan payouts of $2.45 million.
[Also: Kim Keck, Aetna VP, named CEO of Rhode Island Blue Cross & Blue Shield]
Blue Shield is California's third-largest health insurer with 4 million members and $14.8 billion in annual revenue. The company's 10-member board is led by chairman Robert Lee, a retired Pacific Bell executive, and also includes Leon Panetta, former Defense Secretary and past director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
"While we have been providing reports as required to regulators, it left something to the imagination," said company spokesman Steve Shivinsky. The company wanted to "lift the veil and make sure we are going above and beyond what is required so there is a higher level of transparency."
Consumer advocates said Blue Shield waited far too long to share details with their policyholders and the public.
"This is the kind of information that should have been forthcoming from Blue Shield a long time ago," said Anthony Wright, executive director of Health Access, a consumer advocacy group. "We are paying for these salaries through our premiums."
Kaiser Health News (KHN) is a national health policy news service. It is an editorially independent program of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.
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