UnitedHealth Group Inc.'s Andrew Witty benefited from a 12.8% pay bump to finish 2023 as the highest-paid CEO among US-listed health insurers, according to an S&P Global Market Intelligence analysis.
Witty received $23.5 million in total compensation in 2023, the bulk of which came from $15 million in stock grants. The rest of the total comprised cash compensation of $1.7 million, $5 million in options granted and $1.8 million from a non-equity incentive compensation plan.
Witty, who was named chief executive in 2021, made 352 times the median salary of a UnitedHealth employee in 2023.
The second-highest paid health insurance CEO for 2023 was Elevance Health Inc.'s Gail Boudreaux, with total compensation of $21.9 million, 389 times that of the median Elevance employee salary, the largest gap among public US managed care insurance executives.
Most of Boudreaux's compensation came from stock grants, at $11.9 million. Boudreaux also received $2.4 million in cash compensation, $4 million in options and $3.6 million in non-equity incentive compensation.
Boudreaux's salary grew 4.6% year over year, the third-largest rise in compensation among the six highest-paid US managed care CEOs.
Molina Healthcare Inc.'s Joseph Zubretsky was the third-highest-paid managed care CEO, with total compensation of $21.5 million.
Continuing the trend, the majority of Zubretsky's compensation came from stock grants, totaling $15.5 million. He also received $1.6 million in cash compensation and $4.4 million in non-equity incentive compensation.
After topping the 2022 compensation chart, Zubretsky's compensation fell 2.9% year over year. The health executive's compensation was 273 times the median salary of a Molina employee.
The Cigna Group's David Cordani saw no movement in his overall compensation year over year, earning a total of $21 million in 2023, 280 times greater than the median salary of a Cigna employee.
The majority of Cordani's compensation came from stock grants, totaling $12.7 million. Cordani also received $1.8 million in cash compensation, $3.2 million in options and $3.3 million in non-equity incentive compensation.
Centene Corp. CEO Sarah London saw the largest jump in compensation year over year, rising 40.1% from 2022 to $18.6 million, which was 234 times greater than the median salary of a Centene employee.
London received $1.7 million in cash compensation, $13.6 million in stock grants and $3.3 million in non-equity incentive compensation.
Humana Inc.'s Bruce Broussard experienced the largest year-over-year compensation decrease among the six highest-paid public managed care executives, declining 5.1% from 2022 to $16.3 million. His compensation was 192 times larger than the median Humana employee salary, the smallest relative gap among the highest paid executives.
Broussard's stocks and options figure was the smallest in the analysis at $10.9 million, down from $12.4 million in 2022.