The Unbearable Arrogance Of Insurance Companies

In an incredibly arrogant disregard for their consumer clients, Wellpoint (the parent company for numerous state Blue Cross insurance programs) has decided that its top executives just aren't making enough money. After all, Wellpoint's CEO, Angela Braly (pictured), was only being paid around $8.7 million a year. How on earth could she possibly live on such a paltry salary?
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/d3f67eed3d5c.jpg[/atsimg]

To take care of this "underpaid" employee, Wellpoint has raised Braly's salary a whopping 51% -- to about $13.1 million a year. In addition, at least three other of the company's top executives have received salary boosts of around 75%. Those are some pretty nice raises in a time of recession. I'll bet the rank-and-file workers (the people who do the actual work for the corporation) didn't receive a 50% to 75% raise.

And how did the corporation pay for these astronomical raises? Simple. They raised insurance premiums on their customers. Remember, it was Anthem Blue Cross (a Wellpoint company in California) that recently raised its rates by an incredible 39%. It turns out that their Blue Cross companies in at least eleven other states have also raised premiums by double digit percentages. The corporation claimed they had to raise their rates because of rising medical costs.

Wellpoint claims the raise for its top executives were just to maintain their "gold standard of excellence". Company spokesman Jon Mills said, "Wellpoint wants to attract and retain top talent. In order to be the best, to be innovative, to continue delivering the best service, we do have to retain the best quality. We are in no way trying to inflate the salaries and compensation figures but trying to maintain a high level of talent at the organization."

What a load of unadulterated horse manure! I'm surprised his nose didn't grow several inches as he said that (and I wonder how big his own raise was). Does he really think the American people are stupid enough to believe a competent and talented CEO couldn't be hired for less than $13.1 million a year -- a lot less? I think by "gold standard of excellence" he's referring to the excellent amount of gold in executive bank accounts.

You may be asking how the company is going to fit such large pay increases into the cap on administrative costs required by the new health care reform law (which limits administrative costs to 15%-20%). No problem there. Wellpoint has already informed its investors that it will just reassign some administrative costs as medical costs (and thereby skirt the intent and meaning of the new law). They'll just do a few accounting tricks, and then it's back to business as usual.

And don't get the idea that Wellpoint is the only insurance company pulling these kind of shenanigans. They are just the most brazen. Aetna and Cigna have announced they will also be raising the cost of premiums for their consumers, and you can be sure the other companies will soon follow suit.

This points to the big failure of the new health care reform law -- it failed to cut out or control the profit motive in health insurance. It doesn't take a genius to figure out the giant health insurance companies aren't in business to pay for their customers' health care. That's only a secondary concern at best. They are in business to make huge profits -- the bigger the better. And if they have to abuse sick people to do it, so be it.

The new health care reform law did a few things that were badly needed, but it did not truly reform the system. That won't happen until we have a public option for insurance (which will put pressure on private companies to keep premium prices down to compete).

I'm almost speechless, here i am uninsured because my insurance company wouldn't cover my medical cost AT ALL so i dropped them, couldn't see why i was paying over 300 a month for squat, turns out i was paying for there executives to get huge raises, no wonder they couldn't cover my procedure, it would have taken some money out of those poor poor executives pockets. it would be an unthinkable shame for them to have to ride around in a sterling silver limos instead of a solid gold one

how about they're excuses for this, talk about ridiculous. Oh and how they'll offset the cost of there raises, isn't that just peachy.

Source




[edit on 4/5/2010 by Alaskan Man]

And just think, a member of their staff was the writer of the health care bill!

www.abovetopsecret.com...

And people think things are going to get better?!

I wanted to respond to this but, all I could type out after reading the OP was a string of nasty curse words.

Since I don't want to be banned by the mods, I'll just say this;


[size=10]AAAAAARRRRGGGHH!!

Come on, you guys are being too harsh. Didn't you know her old
Gulfstream was wearing out and needs a new one to get her around
to all of the meetings on how to F&@k the little people who only can
afford one of those little one engine planey things?

She needs this extra cash. Come on. 7 or 8 million a year isn't enough
for anyone but those who live in the local ghetto. Get real !!



[edit on 5-4-2010 by endtimer]

How do these people sleep at night???? This is infuriating!! I hate the kind of world we are living in. It just isn't sane.

Good to see that Healthcare Reform Bill working out!

And just imagine having to live off a paltry $8 million a year... I mean, really, who lives like that?

S&F

Nothing to say that won't get me banned.

So just "Bump."

Sounds like she finally got a piece of the pie. Now she's going from
hamburger to filet mignon in one fell swoop. How has she survived
all this time? I don't get it !!

reply to post by Night Star


People in these positions with kind of salary don't live like us. They don't think like us. They don't understand us, anymore than we understand what its like to live on $100.00 per month. For them to live on 35,000, is unimaginable. When a previous poster mentioned "new Gulfstream" for most people in the US, an entire years salary wouldn't be able to fill the gas tanks, let alone pay the pilots, flight attendent or insurance.

Someday the rich will understand probably not anytime soon though.

"they have no bread, well let them eat cake"

They are that far out of touch.

edited for clarity

[edit on 5-4-2010 by jacksmoke]

Just don't buy their products or services if you don't want them to have your money. If you want their products, you have to pay them. It's that simple. If a company is doing bad business and charging too much, their customers can always choose to stop buying what they are selling. Everytime someone gets rich in America it is because people gave them the money.(And if you're going to say, "Well that's not true, what about the wallstreet bailouts?" I would ask you, "Who elected to the officials who gave the companies the money?")

Originally posted by kozmo
Good to see that Healthcare Reform Bill working out!

And just imagine having to live off a paltry $8 million a year... I mean, really, who lives like that?

What? What? What?

Please show how the yet to be implemented HCR bill has anything to do with this?

More importantly, does this mean you have seen the light and agree that a single-payer system makes the most sense as it is the vastly the most effective at providing universal coverage and controlling costs? I'm glad we have a new soldier for the fight against the insurance industry and for the average citizen!

Best.
Skunknuts

Oh.... and it gets better yet.

" Just for the record, this month, this month alone, Braley dumped 32,302 shares of WellPoint stock for a total of $2,000,233, because it seems $13.1 million is not enough to get by on.

Clearly the entire gangBoard of Directors have treated health care deform as the occasion for a great orgy of stock dumping.

Lori Beer dumped $275,106 worth of WellPoint stock
Randall Brown $313,731
John Cannon $737,123
Wayne Deveydt $2,420,073
Fluegel Bradley $357,410
Lewis Dijuana $404,833
Victor Liss $623,000
Cynthia Miller $288,614
Martin Miller $904,303
Samuel Nussbaum $320,724
Brian Sassi $447,691
Jackie Ward $947,063.

Readers, this means that in March alone, these parasites siphoned off $10,039,904.

These are not the actions of business management, these are the actions of a mafia bust out operation.

How much health care could your state buy for $10,039,904 and why should we sacrifice that amount of human life to maintain these parasites to the style to which they have become accustomed?"

Source

IMO the pay many company CEOs get is outrageous, as is the pay garnered by many celebrities and sports figures. However, there is plenty of competition with regards to most types of companies, and people choose whether or not to spend disposable income on movies, sports and the like.

The problem with health insurance companies (this isn't the case with life insurance and auto/home insurance) is that there is little or no competition. It has less to do with CEOs being given exorbitant salaries than with state-wide monopolies in the health insurance business. And this new health care legislation has done absolutely nothing to remedy that problem.

For instance, in my state there are perhaps 5 companies that sell health insurance, give or take, and most of them maintain very small, often regional, networks of providers. If you want to purchase insurance that will allow you to go to virtually any doctor or practitioner, then your choice is narrowed down to two companies. Yep, just two. The rates are all about the same, just like two gas stations on opposite corners in the same tiny one stop light town. You have little choice.

If someone were to pass legislation that opened up the market for the entire US and not just within the state, that would foster much more competition and rates would likely go down or at least stop skyrocketing. You see plenty of tv commercials trying to sell you life and car insurance, across several states or the whole US if the company is huge. They advertise their rates and vie for customers. You see very little of this with health insurance.

It is absurd that you can't buy health insurance across state lines but you can buy darned nearly everything else!

But, health insurance companies would probably fight such moves to do that, because then they might actually have to fight for customers!

Originally posted by OnceReturned
Just don't buy their products or services if you don't want them to have your money. If you want their products, you have to pay them. It's that simple. If a company is doing bad business and charging too much, their customers can always choose to stop buying what they are selling. Everytime someone gets rich in America it is because people gave them the money.(And if you're going to say, "Well that's not true, what about the wallstreet bailouts?" I would ask you, "Who elected to the officials who gave the companies the money?")

Well who should we go to for insurance now that it is mandatory? Me and my wife both go through blue cross blue shield. I am on my company and she has to buy straight through the company. Choice and competition, we live in a world that has neither.

Is this arrogance?

I called TD insurance for my motorcyle last year, in the morning I was quoted 924, I decided to shop around, wheni called back in the afternoon I had to give my info again and was quoted 913. I call that arrogance when they simply pull the numbers out of thin air, what changed from morning to afternoon? worked out in my favor, but just goes to show these people make it up as they go along.

I can top this. My son desparately needs a long term hospitalization. He suffers with Autism and Schizoaffective disorder. His doctor as well as the medical director of the admitting facility, both feel he would benefit from a 4-6 month stay at a particular hospital. He has full coverage and the Insurance company is contracted with the facility selected. The insurance company is denying his admission!!!

I have been embroiled in a daily appeals process for the past 5 months! Meanwhile, he deteriorates daily and my entire family is in crisis.
This is the only place he can get the help he needs, It is a Neuro Behavioral Hospital for children. There is no other option! Yet everyday it is the same story. They say "We don;t feel he needs to be there"

Who the hell are they to judge? Tell that to my 14 year old daughter whose life has been literally turned upside down!

I'm not asking for the best, just the basics. He deserves the chance in order to have some quality of life. He is only 13!

Perhaps I should ask this money grubbing whore to fit the bill!!!

just Google "Wellpoint lawsuits" and you will understand.
www.fiercehealthcare.com...
www.medicalnewstoday.com...
www.lawyersandsettlements.com...
classactionlawsuitsinthenews.com...
jada-plus.com...
www.allbusiness.com...
www.indy.com...
www.badfaithinsurance.org...
www.businessinsurance.com...
www.huffingtonpost.com...

This was one of the reasons for the push for no public option by insurance industry front groups.

They want no competition in ripping off the public under the new national health care laws.

They then will find many other loopholes to rip us off or kill us to make there profits.

I am glad i get my health care through the VA health care system and do not have to worry about dealing with crooks like these.

You have to wonder how much they paid to congress members and there front groups to get to still make big money by ripping off the public.