Are hospital CEOs overpaid? One lawyer's skeptical take on executive compensation.

The writer expresses skepticism towards the excessive compensation received by hospital executives, particularly CEOs, juxtaposed with the lack of transparency in reporting their salaries. They question whether such high salaries are truly earned, especially in nonprofit settings, and suggest that executives may benefit from protection or non-disclosure of their compensation. This sentiment arises from the comparison between the extensive data available for physician compensation versus the scarcity and potential underreporting of executive compensation data.

The writer highlights the disparity in compensation reporting between physicians and C-suite executives, attributing it to a hierarchical class system in American healthcare. They argue that while transparency in physician salaries is common, executive compensation remains opaque, potentially allowing for exploitation of the system. The writer advocates for more physician involvement in healthcare resource allocation, citing lowball offers to physicians compared to benchmark data as evidence of skewed priorities in the system. Overall, they view the lack of transparency in executive compensation as symptomatic of broader issues within the American healthcare system.