Healthcare CEO pay: 10 notes

Here are 10 key notes about healthcare CEO pay:

1. The average annual salary of CEOs in the healthcare sector in the U.S. is $231,870, according to the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics employment survey, with an average hourly wage of $111.48. 

2. The average yearly salary for the lowest 10% of earners among healthcare CEOs was $77,030, according to the BLS. 

3. Healthcare CEOs make 116% more than the average annual salary of all workers in the U.S., which is $61,900, according to the BLS.

4. CEO pay is projected to flatten in 2024, according to a 2023 analysis from Chief Executive Research. More than 70% of companies surveyed projected increases of less than 5% or no increases at all to the median CEO base salary in 2024; 31% of companies reported planning no change to their top chief's base pay in 2024. 

5. According to the same report, CEO bonus pay decreased by 18% in 2022 compared to the previous year. 

6. In 2022, median CEO pay reached $22.3 million, a 7.7 percent increase among the same companies from 2021, according to analysis from software company Equilar. 

7. According to Equilar, the CEO-to-worker pay ratio reached 288-to-1 in 2022 compared to the ratio of 254-to-1 the previous year. 

8. Here are three highest-paid healthcare CEOs:

Albert Bourla, PhD. Chairman and CEO of Pfizer. 

Total pay: $30,543,706

Richard Gonzalez. Chairman and CEO of Abbvie. 

Total pay: $25,847,971

Joseph Zubretsky. President and CEO of Molina Healthcare.

Total pay: $22,131,256

9. Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare CEO Sam Hazen was paid 356 times more than the health system's median employee in 2023. The 2023 annual total compensation of HCA's median compensated employee was $59,816, and Mr. Hazen's total compensation was $21,315,984.

10. The Tax Excessive CEO Pay Act, introduced to Congress on Jan. 18, would impose tax rate increases on companies with CEO-to-median-worker pay ratios above 50-to-1. If passed, tax bumps would start at 0.5 percentage points for companies whose CEOs make between 50 and 100 times more than the median employee. 

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