Highmark CEO David Holmberg's pay dipped to $7.8M in 2020

Highmark Health CEO David Holmberg made $7.82 million in total compensation in 2020, about $325,000 less than the previous year, records filed Friday show.

The reduced compensation and bonus package amid the covid-19 pandemic follows Holmberg reaping a pay increase of about $660,000 in 2019, an 8.8% hike, according to the nonprofit Form 990s the health system must file annually with the Internal Revenue Service.

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At least two other top corporate officials at the Downtown Pittsburgh-based health system also received less pay last year.

Chief Legal Officer Thomas VanKirk made $2.47 million last year, down from $2.63 million in 2019, while Cynthia Hundorfean, CEO of Allegheny Health Network, made $2.9 million in 2020, down from $3.13 million in the year before.

Not every executive saw their compensation drop.

Karen Hanlon, chief operating officer, made $3.52 million last year — a $200,000 boost from the prior year, and up from $2.82 million in 2018 and $1.1 million in 2016.

Highmark Health’s Board of Directors approves compensation for Holmberg, and a personnel and compensation committee sets the pay for all Highmark Health and Allegheny Health Network senior executives, Highmark spokeswoman Emily Gauthier said.

The committee seeks to set “competitive and appropriate compensation relative to the marketplace in order to attract, motivate and retain high-performing executives.”

Bonus pay gets decided based on a variety of factors, including an individual’s job impact, experience, skills and achievement of financial and strategic goals.

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Holmberg’s compensation totaled about $3.8 million in 2015, his first full year taking over Highmark Health, the parent company that oversees the Highmark Inc. insurance arm as well as Allegheny Health Network’s doctors and 14 hospitals.

In 2016, Holmberg made $2.62 million after taking a $1 million pay cut as he and many Highmark executives saw their incomes drop after failing to meet performance-based bonus goals, officials said at the time. In more recent years, executives have reaped pay hikes exceeding $1 million.

The nonprofit health system, which employs more than 43,000 people and must pump profits back into operations, continues to advance ambitious growth plans across the region and neighboring states.

“Highmark Health remains financially strong and stable, as reflected by our $18 billion in consolidated revenue,” Gauthier said. “These positive results were offset by the negative impact on patient volumes at Allegheny Health Network due to covid-19 pandemic-related government shutdowns and other containment measures, as well as consumer reluctance to seek care.”

About 2,600 of Highmark Health’s employees and 800 of its independent contractors made more than $100,000 last year, the IRS records show.

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