Rates rise, health insurance execs bank big bucks

Associated Press:

Top executives at health insurance companies banked large salaries in recent years while rates rose dramatically on individual policyholders in California, according to filings with the state insurance commissioner last month.

In documents posted to the state's website, Blue Shield of California reported that its chief executive officer, Bruce Bokaden, was paid more than $4.6 million in 2010. The San Francisco-based insurer raised rates on some policyholders by about 38 percent over 2010 and 2011.

The salaries are not outside the norm and are based, in part, on a performance-based bonus plan that rewards executives for meeting goals, Blue Shield spokesman Steve Shivinsky said in a statement Wednesday.

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