Three separate but related thoughts came to mind as I read the article “IRS records: UPMC CEO Jeffrey Romoff made $9.5M in 2019; pay tops $1M for 32 employees” (May 14, TribLIVE).

The first was our growing income inequality and the damage it does to our society. Executive compensation of $9.5 million is excessive when you consider that 50% of our workforce makes less than $35,000 a year. The CEO of UPMC earns 270 times the amount of income of many Americans. Such a discrepancy is difficult to justify.

The second thought was the high cost of health care. At a time when many of us are struggling to pay our health care bills, when two out of three bankruptcies are due to medical debt, paying almost $10 million a year to one person seems exorbitant. The customers using UPMC health care are paying for that oversized salary. It does make you wonder if it is time for a change in our health care system.

The third thought concerns nonprofit organizations. With the recent high-profile scandals around nonprofits, it is time to rethink the tax structure of these organizations. When a company has great wealth, it should pay its fair share of income tax, not be exempt. After all, companies use the protection and services of our government to gain that great wealth.

Katie Forsythe

North Huntingdon

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