Blue Cross Blue Shield Suspends Directors' Pay In Mass.

BOSTON (AP) -- The state's largest insurer has suspended pay for its board members amid scrutiny by Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley.

Coakley said she was "encouraged" by the decision Tuesday by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, a health care non-profit classified a "public charity" by the state. She said compensation for board members at public charities was "extraordinarily rare."

The stipends can range $70,000 to $80,000 annually.

Blue Cross said Tuesday it would work with Coakley on its classification as a "public charity." It said the classification creates expectations that the $13 billion enterprise will "operate like museums."

The company also said it accepted "full responsibility" for the $1.4 million in severance it paid former CEO Cleve Killingsworth, and said it understood why the community might see it as too generous.

(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)