Blue Cross CEO saw pay cut to $15.7M amid jump in medical, pharmacy claims
JC Reindl – Detroit Free Press
The top executive at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan took home slightly less pay last year as the insurance giant experienced an underwriting loss amid a 12% jump in medical and pharmacy claims, including growing cost pressure from popular weight-loss drugs like Ozempic.
The Blues reported Wednesday that total all-cash compensation for CEO Daniel Loepp, 66, was $15.7 million in 2023, down $1.2 million from the year before. Of that payday, $12.3 million was bonus, $1.7 million was his base salary and $1.6 million was “other” compensation, such as the value of benefits like life insurance.
Loepp has been The Blues’ top executive since 2006 and is preparing to retire at the end of this year. The board of the insurance company has already begun a search for his successor. Blue Cross is the largest health insurer in Michigan for number of covered lives.
”Overall, the consistently strong performance of the company under Mr. Loepp’s leadership is reflected in his total compensation,” Blues spokesman Andy Hetzel said Friday during a call with reporters. “In 2023, he led the Blue Cross enterprise through tremendous cost pressures … and lingering uneasy economic times, while the health care ecosystem was relying on us more than ever.”
