2 MA insurers' boards will keep taking pay

Massachusetts' second- and third-largest health insurers said yesterday their board members have decided to keep paying themselves five-figure annual fees despite objections from the state attorney general and an inquiry into directors' compensation at nonprofit health plans. Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Tufts Health Plan, in separate statements, said the expertise of directors in fields ranging from medicine to finance was critical to running their complex and high-risk businesses. "Good governance is advanced by the recruitment and retention of experienced, independent, reasonably compensated directors," Harvard Pilgrim said in its statement. "In 2010, our board worked more than 2,000 hours."