A state senate committee is scheduled to hold a public hearing Tuesday on creating a new uncompensated care fund to support Connecticut hospitals.
Medicare-participating hospitals are required under federal law to provide emergency care to uninsured and under-insured people. But the hospitals are not compensated for this care. They are also not compensated for medical debt owed by patients.
Even though uncompensated care makes up less than 2% of total statewide hospital expenses, according to the latest data filed with the state, costs are expected to go up with more uninsured people seeking care as federal health care cuts go into effect.
“But we're not going to just give them money with no strings attached,” said state Sen. Matt Lesser (D-Middletown), and co-chair of the Health and Human Services committee.
“We're going to ask you to step up and do more to ensure that people aren't stuck with huge medical debt.”
Hospital CEO pay another sticking point
While lawmakers debate the creation of an uncompensated care fund, the issue of ballooning salaries for the leaders of some of Connecticut’s largest health care networks is drawing concern from the state legislature.
Christopher O’Connor, CEO of Yale New Haven Health (YNHH), earned $6.2 million in 2025, a 22% increase from 2024. The top 10 highest-paid executives at Yale received a 7.3% increase.
Jeffrey Flaks, CEO of Hartford HealthCare (HHC), received over a $1 million raise to $5.1 million in 2025, from $4.1 million in 2024.
“Executive compensation is rising across all sectors, creating a highly competitive national market for proven leaders,” said Jennifer Jackson, CEO of the Connecticut Hospital Association. “To attract and retain executives capable of guiding highly regulated, financially complex operations, not-for-profit hospitals must offer competitive compensation.”
Hospital executive pay in Connecticut rose between 15-37% from 2024 to 2025, according to the most recent data filed with the state. In contrast, unionized hospital nurses and certified nursing assistants at nursing homes saw raises in the single digits over that time period.
The difference evoked the ire of some lawmakers.
“The federal government has slashed funding for Medicaid and cut support to make private health insurance affordable as well, and people are losing their health insurance,” Lesser said. “At the same time to see these unconscionable increases in CEO salaries, to be honest, seems obscene.”
“It's a lot easier [to provide state funds to hospitals for uncompensated care] if the hospitals could show that the money that they're receiving is going to the care of their patients and is not being squandered on other stuff, like CEO salaries,” he said.
Yale New Haven Health reported close to $200 million in operating losses last year. And Hartford HealthCare’s three newly acquired hospitals have long been mired in financial distress.
Both health systems said their CEO pay was determined by an independent board of directors in line with what the market pays, with some of it in the form of deferred and performance-based compensation.
“At Hartford HealthCare, more than 80% of the CEO’s compensation is performance-based and at risk, earned only if the organization meets or exceeds clearly defined and important goals tied to quality, patient safety, access, affordability, workforce stability, and long-term sustainability,” according to a statement from HHC.
“In FY25, Hartford HealthCare achieved all CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) quality measures … exceeded benchmarks for reducing hospital-acquired conditions, maintained a positive operating margin,” HHC stated. “Non-represented, hospital-based nurses and advanced practice providers received market adjustments of approximately 10% on average, in addition to 3.5% merit increases.”
Robert Hutchinson at YNHH in a statement said CEO Christopher O’Connor’s salary in the state filings are not actual cash payments issued for any given calendar year.
“A significant portion of the reported increase in FY 2025 reflects vested retirement pay that will be paid out to Mr. O’Connor after his retirement,” he said. “As a nonprofit health system and the largest private employer in Connecticut, Yale New Haven Health’s compensation plans are guided by industry standards and best practices.”
The economics driving hospital CEO pay
There is a debate among economists about whether CEO pay at nonprofits reflect competitive markets for leadership talent, or whether outcomes are distorted by market failures, said Steven Lanza, economist at the University of Connecticut.
Economists against capping CEO pay say the high pay reflects the high value that talented leaders can add to an organization by improving operating margins by many multiples of their salary.
“In this view, limiting CEO pay at nonprofits would make these organizations less efficient and less competitive than their for-profit counterparts,” Lanza said.
Economists who support CEO pay limits say hiring is often done from an elite pool of candidates and that boards lack complete information about the abilities of these leaders.
Hospitals are often large organizations with local market power, and CEO pay can be more of a reflection of size of the business itself rather than the quality of care at the hospitals – so pay can exceed the value that the executive adds, these economists argue.
“[Economists in favor of curbing pay believe that] tying CEO salaries to measurable results, like patient outcomes, could help overcome some of these failures,” Lanza said. “But even so, big gaps between CEO pay and regular staff salaries can erode worker morale and run counter to the public-service mission of non-profits.”
