medical records

MSNBC has published a list of the 10 highest paid CEOs in America for 2011. While going through the list, a couple of names really stuck out:

9. Ronald A. Williams

• Company: Aetna
• Total 2010 compensation: $57.8 million

Shares of Aetna, a major health insurer, were down 7 percent in 2010, underperforming the S&P 500 by a large margin. Williams’ pay was based on several factors, none of which was stock price. EPS, pre-tax operating margins and an increase in the dividend were the major measures of his performance, according to the board. The board can make the case, persuasively, that the insurance firm had a good year financially in 2010. The company’s EPS rose from $2.84 in 2009 to $4.18 last year, even though revenue fell slightly from $28.3 billion to $27.6 billion. Williams retired in 2011. The board gave Williams a relatively reasonable gift as he left, at least based on 2010 performance.

How many Americans could be insured with say only half this man's salary? A lot!

When you first glance at those numbers, it doesn't appear to be that great of a year for the insurer. I mean they ended up earning almost $750 million less than the year before, but there are other factors that go into that, like the number of American's who are unemployed and uninsured and people having to take lower policies to save money.

But the healthcare bill, that many on the right said would hurt the insurance giants, appears to not be having that affect when they can pay salaries like this.

Coming in at second we have this one:

2. Joel F. Gemunder

Last night's debate wasn't about policy, it was about politics. America was the big loser in last night's debate - no matter what party you belong to. I think it also exposed a big gaping hole in another part of our election system that needs repairs - debates.

Debates have become nothing but a ratings game for networks that thrive on reality shows, which work to embarrass people the most. That should not be the case. Debates should be carried as part of the networks agreement to air public service, in return for use of our airwaves. ABC was clear yesterday this was not their view when they said no one could use video clips of the debate for twelve hours after it aired.

What we need is a new law written in that there will be X number of debates during primaries and X number of debates during the general. These debates will be carried on the network station, and can not be used as a ratings game. A commission should be formed to oversee the moderators action and the production of these debates.

Debates are the only chance a majority of Americans get to actually see the candidates in action. What Obama's preacher said years ago won't affect his policy, nor will questions of if Hillary actually landed in Bosnia under sniper fire. Four years ago bringing up Dick Cheney's lesbian daughter was taboo, even when the big issue was gay marriage. Now anything goes?

I know some Republicans are loving what they saw last night. I wonder how they would respond if the same thing happened to McCain. What if ABC holds a debate between Obama and McCain and an exchange like this happened:

Gibson: Senator McCain - there has been reports that you gave information to our enemies, in exchange for better treatment, when you were held captive during the Vietnam war.

McCain: That is absolutely false Charlie.

And here we go yet again. Another company, another theft, another computer, another million people having their information exposed:

A thief recently stole a computer server belonging to a major U.S. insurance company, and company officials now fear that the personal data of nearly 1 million people could be at risk, insurance industry sources tell NBC News.

The computer server contains personal electronic data for 930,000 Americans, including names, Social Security numbers and tens of thousands of medical records. The server was stolen on March 31, along with a camcorder and other office equipment, during a break-in at a Midwest office of American Insurance Group (AIG), company officials confirm.

An AIG spokesman says that there's no evidence that the thief has accessed the personal data on the server or used it for any illicit purpose. The server is password protected, the AIG spokesman adds

Now let's see if we can sum this up. We got the VA Computer with 26.5 million. This one adds another million. Another 1.3 million in a Texas Student Loan corporation. 1,300 from the University of Kentucky and 1,500 from a Department of Energy computer (which happened last September but not reported to anyone, including the victims, until a couple of weeks ago). We are up to almost 30 million people who have had their personal information stolen within the last few weeks. That is 10% of the population. That number is not acceptable at all.

So what is the United States Congress doing to help with this problem? What is on the agenda for the great Republicans? They are working on legislation to make it easier for the people who steal this information to use it: