Newspaper: Blues merger a 'loser' for PA residents

The proposed merger of the state's two giant Blue Cross insurance companies would benefit company executives but do little to bring down the cost of health insurance for Pennsylvania residents, says The Philadelphia Inquirer.

From an editorial, "Feeling Blue," in today's edition:

From the start, it was difficult to figure out who really benefits from the proposed merger of Pennsylvania's two largest Blue Cross health-insurance plans.

But not anymore.

The two big winners recently emerged - Joseph Frick, CEO of Independence Blue Cross in Philadelphia, and Kenneth Melani, his counterpart at Highmark Inc., based in Pittsburgh.

According to a filing made public last week, if the state approves the merger, Melani stands to get a whopping 31-percent pay hike to $3.9 million annually. Frick's pay of $2.94 million would stay the same - for now - but maybe that's because it's been jacked up 84 percent since 2006.

Not too shabby for a couple of guys running benevolent nonprofits.

Read the full editorial at the newspaper's Web site.