Reply #3: Wellpoint's Braly: The ICON of greed in the HI industry...

[CurtEastPoint]

This, I think, bears reposting. FOR PROFIT H/C is NOT the way to go as it is all about greed and shareholders and profits and NOTHING ABOUT HEALTH CARE.

The president and CEO of health insurer WellPoint Inc. received a 51 percent boost in compensation in 2009, mainly on larger grants of stock options and a performance bonus as profit and shares gained ground.

Angela Braly's overall compensation rose to $13.1 million from $8.7 million in 2008, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday. Her salary rose less than 1 percent to just over $1.1 million. She received a performance bonus of $1.5 million, a sharp jump from $73,810 a year prior.

The bulk of her compensation came from a 40 percent boost in restricted stock and stock options, totaling just under $10.2 million. The boost came as the company's stock price steadily gained ground over the year, closing 38 percent higher at $58.29.

Profit also surged in 2009 to $4.75 billion, or $9.88 per share, from $2.49 billion, or $4.76 per share, because of the sale of its NextRx subsidiary to Express Scripts. Even without the sale, the company said it would have earned $6.09 per share.