Coakley
BOSTON (Legal Newsline) - Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley says paying board members of nonprofit health insurance companies is not justified.
Coakley has gone after nonprofit health insurers before, most notably Blue Cross Blue Shield, for paying their boards of directors thousands of dollars.
The attorney general has said that those serving on a charitable board should do so voluntarily -- and if not, they should explain why they are being paid.
"We have continued our investigation and have asked the boards to justify to us why they should be compensated when the overwhelming majority of nonprofit board members volunteer their services," Coakley said in a statement to the Boston Herald on Thursday.
"We have not been satisfied with those responses and are continuing our work to determine the best course of action moving forward."
The Herald reported on Thursday that members of the BCBS board who approved former CEO Cleve Killingsworth's $11 million severance package earned upwards of $89,000 last year.
According to the newspaper, Killingsworth resigned last March after being with BCBS for six years.
Coakley told the Herald that she plans to investigate his payout.
From Legal Newsline: Reach Jessica Karmasek by e-mail at jessica@legalnewsline.com.