CEO salaries from the health insurance industry’s largest publicly traded companies collectively reached $136.7 million in the latest financial year. The figure represents a slight rise from $135.1 million from the previous cycle.
How much did the top executives of the country’s largest health insurers make exactly?
To answer this question, Insurance Business pulled data from company filings from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). We then ranked the highest-paid CEOs based on their total compensation in the last financial year. Here’s the list.
For this list, we ranked the highest-earning CEOs from the nation’s largest health insurance companies based on the latest market share data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). The ranking includes only the top executives from publicly traded health insurers whose data are available to the public.
These are the health insurance CEOs with the highest salaries and compensation.
Total compensation: $22,131,256
CEO pay ratio: 278:1
Zubretsky tops the list, receiving more than $22.1 million in total compensation in the latest financial year. His earnings were up from $20 million in 2021.
Just like with most CEOs, stock incentives account for the bulk of Zubretsky’s compensation, reaching almost $15 million. He also received more than $5.5 million in non-equity incentives.
His earnings are 278 times higher compared to those of the health insurer’s average employee.
Here’s a breakdown of Zubretsky’s total compensation.
Zubretsky was named CEO of Molina Healthcare in November 2017. He also serves as the company’s president. He joined the California-based firm from the P&C insurer The Hanover, where he held the same roles.
Molina Healthcare specializes in government-sponsored programs for eligible individuals and families. The insurer has been chosen by several states to join dual demonstration projects to manage the care for those qualified for Medicaid and Medicare.
Total compensation: $21,317,055
CEO pay ratio: 380:1
Lynch earned over $21.3 million in total compensation in 2022, a bump from the $20.3 million she made in the previous year. Her base annual salary of almost $1.5 million is one of the highest among the health insurance CEOs on our list.
Lynch also earned around $12.4 million in stock incentives and $4.1 million in option awards. She also received around $2.9 million through her non-equity incentive plan.
Here’s a break of Lynch’s overall compensation in the last financial year.
Lynch just completed her first full year of tenure as CVS Health’s chief executive. She was appointed to the position in February 2021, following the retirement of Larry Merlo.
Prior to her appointment, Lynch was the first female president of Aetna. She assumed this role until 2018, when Aetna was acquired by CVS Health.
CVS Health is one of the largest diversified healthcare benefits providers in the US. It serves more than 23 million members in all 50 states.
The health insurer has more than 9,900 retail locations and nearly 1,100 walk-in clinics across the country. It also runs a pharmacy benefits manager with about 100 million plan members and a senior pharmacy care business with one million patients every year.
Total compensation: $20,965,504
CEO pay ratio: 277:1
David Cordani’s $20.9 million in total pay last year was an increase from his $19.9 million in overall earnings in 2021. He received $1.5 million in base salary and $3.6 million in non-equity incentives. He also made around $12.6 million and $2.9 million in stock and option awards, respectively. Cordani earns 277 times more than Cigna’s average employee.
Here's a breakdown of his total compensation last year.
Cordani has been Cigna’s top executive since 2009. A report by the healthcare industry news website StatNews revealed that he has earned around $366 million since 2012.
Cigna is one of the largest health insurers in the world, serving around 190 million clients across 30 countries and territories. It has about 19.5 million members in the US, where it offers health and dental policies.
The company delivers products through its subsidiaries Cigna Healthcare and Evernorth Health Services.
Total compensation: $20,931,081
CEO pay ratio: 383:1
Boudreaux earned the highest base salary among all health insurance CEOs on the list at $1.6 million. She also has the highest CEO to employee pay ratio. Her total compensation of $20.9 million last year is an increase from the $19.3 million she received in 2021.
Apart from her annual salary, she received $11.1 million in stock awards, almost $3.7 million in option awards, and over $3.8 million in non-equity incentives. Here’s a breakdown of her overall pay.
Boudreaux is the president and CEO of Elevance Health, formerly known as Anthem. She has been the industry giant’s top executive since 2017. Before this, she was the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare, a unit of the country’s largest health insurer.
Elevance Health is the second largest health insurance provider in the US. It is also the biggest for-profit managed healthcare company in the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.
The company offers health insurance plans covering medical, dental and eye care. It draws on its network of 1.7 million doctors and medical facilities to serve its more than 47.5 million members.
Total compensation: $20,865,106
CEO pay ratio: 331:1
Andrew Witty heads the largest health insurance company in the US and has earned almost $20.9 million while doing so. His 2022 pay is a substantial increase from $18.4 million in the previous year.
Witty received $1.5 million in annual salary and around $2.7 million in non-equity incentives. He also earned almost $12.4 million in stock incentives and $4.1 million in option awards. Here’s a breakdown of Witty’s total compensation.
Witty was named CEO of UnitedHealth Group in February 2021. He previously served as the group’s director and as chief executive of its tech arm, Optum.
UnitedHealth Group boasts a strong network of over 1.5 million medical and healthcare specialists and 6,200 hospitals. These professionals provide medical and dental benefits to the insurer’s more than 49 million members across the US.
Total compensation: $17,198,844
CEO pay ratio: 238:1
Broussard’s CEO compensation totaled almost $17.2 million in the last fiscal year, rising from $16.5 million in 2021. He received $1.3 million in salaries. Stock awards took up the bulk of his earnings, generating around $9.6 million. He also earned roughly $2.8 million in option awards and $3.1 million in non-equity incentives.
Here are the complete details of Broussard’s health insurance CEO pay.
Broussard began his tenure as Humana’s chief executive in January 2013. However, the industry giant announced recently that Broussard would be stepping down from his post in the second half of 2024.
Humana's CEO Broussard, who has been with the insurer for a long time, announced that he will be stepping down next year. Exciting times ahead for Humana! 🎉
— Breaking News (@XPoliticalNews) October 11, 2023
Humana is one of the biggest managed care companies in the US, with more than 17 million members across all 50 states. It offers individuals, employer groups, and anyone searching for government-sponsored plans affordable health insurance options.
Total compensation: $13,246,447
CEO pay ratio: 171:1
London received around $13.2 million in compensation after being named as CEO in March 2022. Her base salary for the year was $1.3 million. She also earned roughly $7.6 million in stock and $4 million in non-equity incentives. Here’s a full breakdown of her total compensation.
London replaced Michael Neidorff, who retired due to a lengthy illness. He died in April 2022.
Prior to London’s appointment, she led Centene's technology and digital strategy, healthcare enterprises and specialty divisions.
Centene is the third largest health insurer in the US. It provides services to government-funded healthcare programs for uninsured and underinsured Americans. The company is also the country’s largest Medicaid managed care provider, serving more than 28 million members across all 50 states.
Here’s a summary of the total compensation the highest-paid health insurance CEOs in the US received.
Our ranking includes seven of the largest health insurance companies in the US. These insurers, as well as the three not on our list, control 57% of the entire market. According to NAIC's data, these companies have underwritten $821.5 billion worth of premiums in the past financial year.
Here’s a quick look at the top health insurers in the nation.
Our list includes only publicly traded companies whose financial records are available to the public. The ranking excludes mutual insurers HCSC and GuideWell – meaning they’re owned by their policyholders – as well as Kaiser Permanente, which is a non-profit group.
Maurice Smith has been serving as the CEO of HCSC since June 2020. Meanwhile, Patrick Geraghty serves as GuideWell’s chief executive, a role he also holds with the group’s subsidiary Florida Blue. Gregory Adams leads Kaiser Permanente. He was named as the organization’s top executive in December 2019.
You can check out the complete profiles of the 10 largest health insurance providers in the US in this guide.
Our ranking of the highest-earning health insurance CEOs also doesn’t include the top executives of insurtech firms. Many of these CEOs experienced a substantial dip in their earnings in the last financial year after receiving massive paychecks the year before. Here’s some of the data Insurance Business gathered.
Alignment Healthcare’s John Kao received the highest pay among the listed CEOs at $34.1 million. This figure, however, was a 25% decrease from his total compensation in the previous year.
eHealth CEO Francis Soistman saw his earnings drop almost 42% to $6.2 million in 2022 from 10.6 million the preceding year.
Bright Health’s George Mikan, Oscar Health’s Mario Schlosser, and Clover Health’s Vivek Garipalli all registered more than 90% decrease in pay. Mikan received a 94% pay cut. Schlosser saw his earnings almost entirely wiped out. Garipalli elected to forgo any compensation in 2022. He later relinquished his role to Andrew Toy.
If you’re curious to know how other insurance professionals make a living, here’s a primer on how much insurance agents make.
You can find more updates on the health insurance sector, including senior leadership changes and compensation, on our Life & Health News section. Be sure to bookmark this page, so you can keep abreast of the latest industry developments.
What are your thoughts on the pay of health insurance CEOs? Do you think the industry’s top executives deserve their salaries? Chat us up in the comments section below.
