Thirty investors have filed shareholder resolutions involving 21 health companies asking them to publicly disclose the total compensation packages of their top executives.

The investors are faith-based institutional shareholders who belong to the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility.

The 21 companies receiving the shareholder resolutions are Aetna; AIG; Allstate; Amerisource Bergen; Amgen; Cardinal Health; Cigna; Coventry Health; General Electric; Humana; Lilly (Eli) & Co; Lincoln National; McKesson; Medco Health Solutions; Medtronic; Stryker; The Travelers Corporation; 3M; UnitedHealth Group; UNUM Group; and WellPoint.

"Shareholders, the government, citizens and investors are increasingly concerned about seemingly out of control growth in compensation packages for top executives at U.S. corporations, including those in the health industry. When the causes of skyrocketing healthcare costs are examined, this growth in health industry compensation is clearly a factor. These packages often reveal an accelerating pay gap between highest and lowest paid employees," says ICCR Executive Director Laura Berry. "Compounding this disparity, many employers have shifted a greater share of the overall health costs onto employees and their families. This makes lower-wage employees bear the burden of increased premiums, higher deductibles and out of pocket expenses. This can lead to particularly egregious disparities when it comes to health industry companies that are simultaneously fueling health care expenses, opposing needed health care reform in Congress and covering fewer and fewer Americans."

The new pay-disparity resolution asks for a report covering:

1. A comparison of the total compensation package of our company's top executives and our lowest paid employees (including health care benefits and costs), in the United States in July 2000, July 2004 and July 2009.

2. An analysis of any changes in the relative size of the gap between the two groups and an analysis and rationale justifying any such trend.

3.  An evaluation of whether our top executive compensation packages (including, options, benefits, perks, loans, health care, and retirement agreements) would be considered "excessive" and should be modified to be kept within reasonable boundaries; and

4. An explanation of whether any such comparison of compensation packages (including  health care benefits) of our highest and lowest paid workers, invites changes in executive compensation, including health care benefits for departing executives, to more reasonable and justifiable levels, and whether the Board should monitor the results of this comparison in the future-with greater equity as the goal.

The full text of the resolution is available online at www.iccr.org