Top salaries key to approval of Blues merger

0 Comments | Philadelphia Inquirer, The, December, 2007 | by Jane M. Von Bergen and Craig R. McCoy Inquirer Staff Writers

The question from the Pennsylvania deputy insurance commissioner could not have been more detailed. The official, Stephen J. Johnson, demanded that the top executives of the state's two largest Blue Cross plans disclose every last nuance about their future pay as Independence Blue Cross and Highmark Inc.

pursue a merger. Base pay, severance pay, bonuses - everything. The Blues have yet to answer. But how they do is sure to be key in whether the merger goes forward, given that controversies over pay have dashed other mega-mergers. "It's not surprising that the public is sort of skeptical of these large salaries, because quite often they don't feel the products offered to them are affordable or offer adequate coverage," said Renee Marus Hodin, a lawyer with Community...