Dijuana Lewis will get nearly $3.2 million on her way out the door at WellPoint Inc. after striking an unusual—even
bizarre—deal with the company to be dismissed from her duties but stay on for the next two months to help her successor.
Lewis, 51, had been running Indianapolis-based WellPoint’s comprehensive health business solutions unit, which in various
ways supported WellPoint’s commercial and consumer lines of health insurance.
But CEO Angela Braly shifted some of Lewis’ duties overseeing operations this month to Lori Beer, who was promoted
from chief information officer to run a new unit called Enterprise Business Solutions. According to sources with knowledge
of the situation, Lewis objected to the change and made her feelings known to Braly.
On Oct. 19—11 days after the announcement about Beer—Lewis was “terminated without cause,” according
to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Sources said the decision was mutual.
Lewis was WellPoint’s fourth highest-paid executive, earning a salary in 2009 of $650,000 and a bonus of $200,000 for
overseeing WellPoint’s sale of its pharmacy benefit management unit, NextRx. With stock and perks, her total compensation
last year was $4.4 million.
Her duties, which included WellPoint’s contracting with doctors and hospitals, will be handled temporarily by Dr. Sam
Nussbaum, WellPoint’s chief medical officer.
Lewis' severance package, as detailed in WellPoint securities filings, is nearly all in cash, but also includes continuation
of health insurance and "executive benefits," as well as outplacement help.

















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Right now, your employer may be stating you need to deal with Anthem. You dont have a choice. That is a problem. They pick cheapest insurance premium whether good service or not.
Once exchanges come around, the govt is just saying get insurance. you might decide to pick Aetna, or Humana or even a local insurance plan. Your employer may still offer insurance, but many will be able to have insurance companies compete.
Why she was eve elevated to CEO beats me. Her only business experience was CEO for BCBS of MO (not exactly a high performer). Othersie just leagl background. Give ius the good ole days when Larry G. was still CEO.
For the government to mandate that i have to engage in a contract with a company like this is A PROBLEM. Let us re-evaluate how much paperwork and red tape these companies have to go through, that has been brought on because a legislature thought that it was a good idea. Probably why they charge so much, because it is foolishly/needlessly complicated.
When you run a large company you deserve a fair compensation. For the rest of us that will never see one million let alone 3.2 in one year, and have to take 25% of our income to support that company because the federal govermnet forces us to, is not deserved.
That company should have stayed as a mutual insurance company and not publically traded which ended up overpaying people such as Lewis... I will bet that she has not waited 6 weeks on a check.
Scum Bags!!
I guess I will turn them into one of Mitch's corrupt State Org - Dept of Insurance to see if they can help me get my return premium.
Who do these people think they are even to make that kind of salary? Would they be Gods or Goddesses? Are they superhuman? Perhaps deserving or somehow very special?
I was let go as a reduction in force from a company. I got 2 weeks severence. I just heard of a person who was let go (laid off) from a company that was having hardships and got a month's severence. For a company to give something like that out, to pay these people this kind of money, to take premiums from people causing such hardship and pain, is disgusting. It's the only word I can think of.
Truth is WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND. So as Wellpoint continues to take those premiums, deny families medical care, people suffer and in many cases die as a result of their greed, etc etc etc.... with every check they issue, with every check they cash
WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND.