UnitedHealth Group CEO Stephen Hemsley topped the list of the highest-paid payer CEOs in 2025 — and it wasn’t by a small margin.
The caveat is, as Mr. Hemsley stepped back into the C-suite in 2025, his compensation package included a one-time $60 million equity award. Former CEO Andrew Witty trailed Mr. Hemsley in the overall ranking.
CEOs at Elevance Health, CVS Health and Humana saw pay bumps from 2024.
Here are the highest-paid CEOs, in order:
1. Stephen Hemsley, UnitedHealth Group
Salary: $596,154
Option awards: $60,000,024
Other compensation: $341,884
Total: $60,938,062
2. Andrew Witty, UnitedHealth Group (former CEO)
Salary: $903,846
Stock awards: $17,250,591
Option awards: $5,750,048
Other compensation: $694,887
Total: $24,599,372
3. David Cordani, Cigna Group
Salary: $1,600,000
Stock awards: $13,929,161
Option awards: $3,400,019
Non-equity incentive plan compensation: $3,200,000
Change in pension value and deferred compensation: $97,562
Other compensation: $639,392
Total compensation: $22,866,134
4. Gail Boudreaux, Elevance Health
Salary: $1,600,000
Stock awards: $13,440,277
Option awards: $4,199,765
Non-equity incentive plan compensation: $2,788,000
Other compensation: $574,272
Total compensation: $22,582,314
5. David Joyner, CVS Health
Salary: $1,500,000
Stock awards: $14,499,931
Non-equity incentive plan compensation: $4,695,900
Other compensation: $453,609
Total: $21,214,084
6. Sarah London, Centene
Salary: $1,473,077
Stock awards: $15,537,733
Non-equity incentive plan compensation: $2,109,446
Other compensation: $386,042
Total compensation: $19,506,298
7. Jim Rechtin, Humana
Salary: $1,348,558
Stock Awards: $13,868,141
Non-Equity Incentive Plan: $3,034,740
Other Compensation: $505,636
Total: $18,757,075
8. Joseph Zubretsky, Molina Healthcare
Salary: $1,600,000
Stock awards: $16,199,988
Other compensation: $540,795
Total compensation: $18,340,783
Editor’s note: This list only reflects the compensation categories each person received.
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