Pay hikes came in a banner year for the health insurer’s parent company. But at a time when health care

spending and insurance premiums are rising, rich pay packages fuel controversy.

By: Stephanie Goldberg

Growing pressure to bring down health care costs hasn’t pinched pay for top brass at the nation’s sixth-largest health insurer.

Eight of the 10 highest-paid executives—including former leaders—at Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Illinois parent company Health Care Service Corp. got raises in 2018. So did seven of the company’s nine returning outside directors.

The pay hikes came in a banner year for Chicago-based HCSC, which owns Blue Cross plans in five states. Net income more than tripled to $4.1 billion last year, thanks mostly to a tax refund, as revenue rose 10 percent to $36 billion. But at a time when health care spending and insurance premiums are rising, rich pay packages fuel controversy.

To Read More