Is Health Care the Next 'Bonusgate'?

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http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/09/02-0

Published on Wednesday, September 2, 2009 by CNN
Is Health Care the Next 'Bonusgate'?

House energy panel asks 52 companies to cough up info on everyone who makes more than $500,000 a year. Insurers cry foul. Does health CEO pay matter?
by Jennifer Liberto

WASHINGTON - Earlier this year, public outrage boiled over with news of eye-popping pay to top executives on Wall Street.

Rep. Henry Waxman is pushing insurance industry for executive pay information. (CNN)
White House officials later acknowledged they had misjudged the velocity and volume of furor triggered by "bonusgate," which raised the profile of corporate executive pay.

Could that happen now in health care?

Some of the known salaries are pretty big. Last year, the head of Cigna (CI, Fortune 500) made $11 million and the head of United Health Group (UNH, Fortune 500) made $9.4 million, according to the Corporate Library.

Fifty-two health and accident insurance companies have until Friday to turn over salary details on employees who make more than $500,000 a year.

Last month, Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., head of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, asked for the figures as part of a broader look at how health insurers operate.

And last week, Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV, D-W.Va., who runs the Senate Commerce panel, also asked the biggest health insurers to cough up particulars of premium dollars spent on patient care.

Some policy watchers believe the congressional push has the potential to shake things up. In fact, a controversy over CEO pay could renew debate over a public option, a government-run health insurance plan that would compete with private insurers.

Public option advocates hope outrage over big-time salaries prompts a new rally for their case.

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