Executive Compensation at Kaiser Permanente (2023)

Kaiser Health is one of many terms (Kaiser, Kaiser Permanente, etc) that refers to one of the nation’s largest not-for-profit health care insurers and providers with more than 12.5 million members (primarily in California but also in Hawaii, Colorado, Georgia, Oregon, Washington, Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia). With 40 hospitals, more than 600 medical offices, and about 223,000 employees, Kaiser Health is considered one of the leaders in the industry.

Kaiser Health is comprised of the health plan (Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc), the hospitals (Kaiser Foundation Hospitals) and the medical groups (Permanente Medical Groups) although there are numerous non-profits that make up the entire organization. The focus of this post is on the executive compensation reported on the Form 990 of the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. (KFHP) because this organization reports the compensation for the key executives including the Chairman and CEO (as opposed to a related organization reporting compensation from a related organization).

Key financial information reported on the Form 990 (2023) includes the following:

Total revenue was $75 billion from three primary sources:  member dues, which appears to be the organizations within the Kaiser Health system ($50 billion); medicare ($20 billion), and other program services and supplemental revenue ($6 billion).

Expenses totaled $74 billion with the largest expenses reported to be:  basic contractual payments ($47 billion), supplies and purchased services ($19 billion), office-related expenses ($4 billion), and compensation ($4 billion).

Net assets were $9 billion a year-end 2023.

30,295 employees received $4 billion in compensation, which equates to an average compensation of about $132,000.  However, only 13,616 employees received more than $100,000 in compensation with 50 of the most highly compensated employees reported to be:

• $12,721,446:  Gregory Adams, Chairman and CEO
• $ 5,061,302:  Kathryn Lancaster, EVP and CFO
• $ 4,751,551:  Kimberly Horn, EVP, Group President, MOC
• $ 4,507,213:  Janet Liang, Regional President, Northern CA
• $ 3,794,812:  Arthur Southam, EVP, Health Plan Operations
• $ 3,430,996:  Yazdi Bagli, EVP, Enterprise Business Services
• $ 2,895,673:  Chuck Bevilacqua, SVP, Health Plan Service and Admin
• $ 2,807,666:  Julie Miller-Phipps, Region President, Southern CA
• $ 2,774,668:  Laurel Junk, SVP, Markett Operations Services
• $ 2,669,214:  Carrie Plietz, Regional President, NCAL
• $ 2,494,194:  Mark Zemelman, SVP, General Counsel and Secretary
• $ 2,491,398:  Thomas Henenburg, Interim Regional President – NCA
• $ 2,487,950:  Paul Swenson, EVP, Chief Admin Officer
• $ 2,425,548:  Christian Meisner, SVP, Chief HR Officer
• $ 2,100,570:  Vanessa Benavides, SVP, Chief Compliance and Privacy Officer
• $ 1,848,119:  Chandrika Bhalla, SVP, CFO – NCAL
• $ 1,842,456:  Thomas Meier, SVP, Corporate Treasurer
• $ 1,750,147:  Diane Comer, EVP, Chief Info and Tech Officer
• $ 1,749,827:  Agnes Strandberg, SVP, Medicare
• $ 1,725,338:  Wade Overgaard, SVP, Health Plan Ops – CA
• $ 1,710,204:  Anthony Barrueta, SVP, Government Relations
• $ 1,628,039:  James Simpson, Regional President, GA
• $ 1,621,847:  Donald Orndoff, SVP, NFS
• $ 1,612,208:  Michelle Gaskell, Regional President, SCAL & HI
• $ 1,609,622:  Andrew Bindman, EVP, Chief Medical Officer
• $ 1,603,732:  Deborah Catsavas, SVP, HR, NCAL
• $ 1,574,364:  Catherine Hernandez Tirey, SVP, Chief Communications Officer
• $ 1,522,260:  Wendy Sack, SVP, Pricing and Underwriting
• $ 1,503,857:  Bechara Choucair, SVP, Chief Heath Officer
• $ 1,502,063:  Gregory Holmes, SVP, Chief HR Officer
• $ 1,480,424:  Alfonse Upshaw, SVP, CFO-NCAL
• $ 1,418,620:  Thomas Curtin Jr, SVP, Commercial LOB
• $ 1,353,230:  Arlene Peasnell, SVP, HR and Consulting
• $ 1,284,952:  Greg Christian, Asst Secretary
• $1,111,628:  Mary Beth Lang, SVP, Chief Pharmacy Officer
• $ 1,073,515:  Linton White, SVP, CFO, SCAL and HI
• $ 1,063,332:  Paul Minardi, EVP and CEO, KPMF
• $    950,781:  David Thomason, SVP, Corporate Controller and CAO
• $   938,753:  Mick Diede, SVP, Chief Actuary
• $  897,160:  John Yamamoto, Assistant Secretary
• $  890,846:  Philip Young Jr, Assistant Secretary
• $   873,083:  Marcus Hoffman, SVP, CFO – SCAL & Hawaii
• $   872,997:  Ryan Jenson, Interim Corp Controller and CAO
• $   804,923:  Brandon Cuevas, EVP, Health Plan
• $   803,897:  Tina Weiss, SVP, Medicare/Consumer Lob
• $   775,925:  Jennifer Goldberg, Assistant Secretary
• $   676,148:  Hong-Sze Yu, VP, Board and Corporate Gov, and Asst Secretary
• $   645,426:  Kristin Bear, Assistant Secretary
• $   644,961:  Katherine Ritchey, Assistant Secretary
• $   568,032:  George Disalvo, SVP, CFO SCAL

As illustrated above, 50 of the most highly compensated employees received more than $100 million in compensation.  29 of the 50 (58%) of the most highly compensated employees are male while 21 (42%) are female.  6 of the 10 most highly compensated employees are female while 4 are male.

The most highly compensated employee was Gregory Adams who received nearly $13 million in 2023 and $82 million from 2017-2023, followed by Kathryn Lancaster who received $5 million in 2023 and $35 million from 2017-2023; and Arthur Southam who received nearly $4 million in 2023 and $33 million from 2017-2023.  Collectively these 3 employees received nearly $150 million from 2017-2023:

Gregory Adams:  Total Compensation 2017-2023: $82 million

• 2023:  $12,721,446
• 2022:  $13,697,450
• 2021:  $15,562,224
• 2020:  $17,268,060
• 2019:  $ 6,213,257
• 2018:  $10,226,544
• 2017:  $ 6,589,138

Kathryn Lancaster:  Total Compensation 2017-2023:  $35 million 

• 2023:  $5,061,302
• 2022:  $5,509,673
• 2021:  $5,027,913
• 2020:  $5,086,656
• 2019:  $6,720,335
• 2018:  $3,574,418
• 2017:  $3,723,333

Arthur Southam:  Total Compensation 2017-2023:  $33 million

• 2023;  $3,794,812
• 2022:  $5,606,654
• 2021:  $5,224,405
• 2020:  $4,886,355
• 2019:  $5,837,783
• 2018:  $3,944,031
• 2017:  $4,007,202

The Form 990 also reports:

• First class or charter travel was paid for by KFHP. According to the 990 “first class travel is permissible as an ordinary business expense for all Board of Directors, Chief Executive Officers, and 17 other officers…”
• Travel for companions was paid for by KFHP, “as approved by senior management infrequently..”
• Personal services were paid for by KFHP.  Specifically, “car and security service is approved for senior management in connection with business related travel.  The CEO’s non business transportation is included in compensation tax indemnification and gross up payments.”
• KFHP made tax indemnification or gross up payments – “limited to partial tax gross up under relocation policy, CEO transportation, and security and as approved on a limited basis by senior management.
• A housing allowance was provided on a limited basis to 3 officers for relocation.
• For information on severance payments and supplemental non-qualified retirement plan contributions, see the Form 990, Schedule J, Part III, Supplemental Information.

3,029 independent contractors received more than $100,000 in compensation with the five (5) most highly compensated reported to be:

• $24 billion:  Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, of Pasadena, CA for medical services
• $16 billion:  The Permanente Medical Group, of Oakland, CA for medical services
• $12 billion:  S. California Permanente Medical Group, of Pasadena, CA for medical services
• $358 million:  Hawaii Permanente Medical Group, of Honolulu, HI for medical services
• $358 million:  Easter Seals Southern California, of Orange, California for medical services

As illustrated above, the highest compensated contractors appear to be related or affiliated with the organization.

To read the IRS Form 990 (2023), click here.