Blue Shield of California Discloses Pay Of Top Execs

Under pressure from consumer activists and other critics, Blue Shield of California has released compensation data for its top executives.

Officials with the San Francisco-based health plan told the publication California HealthLine that it had wished to lift a “veil of secrecy” on its compensation practices.

According to the data, at least 10 executives with Blue Shield of California earned at least $1 million per year last year.

Chief Executive Officer Paul S. Markovich was the highest-paid executive still with the company. He was paid a total of $3.52 million in base salary, incentive payments and other compensation.

Janet D. Widmann, the health plan's executive vice president of markets, earned $3.43 million. She is no longer employed by the company. Robert W. Geyer, senior vice president for customer quality, was paid $2.54 million, the only other executive to earn more than $2 million.

According to the report, base salary comprised on average 36.5% of total compensation, while incentives made up the remaining 63.5%. The company did not include any payments for years other than 2015, making it difficult to obtain a compensation trend. It also reported the elimination of its defined benefit pension plan and its supplemental executive retirement plan at the start of this year.

Although a non-profit corporation, Blue Shield has paid federal taxes since the mid-1980s under a federal law that treats large Blues insurers as for-profits. That exempts it from filing a 990 tax return that would have compelled it to disclose the compensation of its highest-paid executives and board members. But since it is not publicly-traded, it is not required to file a proxy statement that would also require compensation disclosures.