Insurance executive pay curbed in health bill

Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee voted to encourage limits on the compensation of insurance executives, responding to charges that expanding health insurance coverage would enrich insurance companies. Voting 14-8, the committee approved an amendment that would limit the tax deductibility of compensation for insurance executives to $500,000 a year. The limit would apply to executives at companies that get significant business generated by the bill's mandate that nearly all Americans must have insurance. Under current law, businesses can deduct up to $1 million a year in compensation for executives, reports the Wall Street Journal.