Two healthcare execs make the top 50 list of highest-paid CEOs

Two familiar healthcare executive names appear on the list of the top 50 highest-paid CEOs in the country, according to an analysis conducted by The Associated Press and Equilar, an executive pay research firm.

Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini ranked 11th on the list for earning $30.7 million in 2013. Trevor Fetter, CEO of Tenet Healthcare falls in the 22nd spot for his annual compensation of $22.7 million.

Healthcare CEOs received the most pay across industries for the fifth time in six years, the AP-Equilar analysis indicates, while CEOs at utility companies got the least. The median pay for the industry was $12.3 million, up 13 percent.

The analysis differs slightly from the results of a separate report by the Wall Street Journal. In that analysis, Bertoni is number 8 on that list and Fetter is number 20. Furthermore, the healthcare industry isn't the top earner in the WSJ analysis. CEOs in the finance and telecommunications industry received higher salaries, according to the WSJ report, with healthcare CEOs falling in third place with a median compensation of $13.9 million.

The differences in the two reports are due to how they determined compensation.

The AP-Equilar report relied on the regulatory filings detailing pay packages of 337 CEOs. It looked at Standard & Poor's 500 companies that filed statements with regulators between Jan. 1 and April 30, 2014. The analysis focused on CEOs who were in place for at least two years and included CEO salaries, bonuses, perks, stock awards, stock options and other pay components.

The WSJ teamed with Hay Group, a global management consulting firm, for its annual report. They reviewed the 300 largest U.S.-traded public companies that filed definitive proxy statements with the Securities and Exchange Commission between May 1, 2013 and April 30, 2014. The proxy statements include CEO direct compensation of salary, bonus and annual incentives, as well as long-term incentives in the form of cash or stock.

Both compensation reports come in the wake of a New York Times report that found hospital CEOs on average earn a base pay of $386,000 and hospital administrators make an average of $237,000, outstripping the salaries of surgeons and general physicians.

To learn more:
- read the AP-Equilar analysis via ABC News
- check out AP-Equilar median pay by industry
- read the WSJ article about the analysis (subscription required)
- see the WSJ CEO rankings
- here's how AP analyzed the data
- check out how WSJ analyzed the data

Related Articles
Hospital CEOs--not doctors--among medicine's top earners
Top healthcare CEO compensation trends in 2014
CEO compensation rates from 10 highest-grossing healthcare non-profits
Aetna CEO compensation totals $36M
More men enter nursing--and earn higher salaries than women
Hospital CEO pay grows at twice the average for other workers
Popular perk: 86% of healthcare CEOs receive car allowances