Health Care Service Corp. doled out raises in 2018 to eight of its 10 highest-paid executives, including former leaders, according to Crain's Chicago Business.
Seven of HCSC's nine returning outside directors also received pay hikes. The raises come as HCSC, the parent company of Blue Cross plans in five states, posted net income of $4.1 billion in 2018. The net income included a hefty tax refund.
The pay hikes may face criticism as healthcare and health insurance costs rise for consumers. Katherine Hempstead, a senior policy adviser at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, told Crain's Chicago Business: "When consumers get unhappy with some segment of the economy, they start to look at how much the people who run those companies get paid. Healthcare is having a pretty long moment where people think it costs too much."
Read the full report here.