Dive Brief:
- A union representing California healthcare workers, the SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West, is urging the state to cap salaries at nonprofit hospitals and set limits on their prices.
- The union is trying to get two initiatives on the upcoming state ballot, one which would restrict annual salaries to $450,000 for nonprofit hospital execs and one which would forbid nonprofit hospitals from charging more than 25% over the cost of providing care.
- According to the union, the annual pay for the 10 highest paid nonprofit hospital execs in the state averaged $2.6 million in 2011, and nonprofit hospitals charge an average of 320% more than their actual cost.
Dive Insight:
We all know the arguments that hospitals make as to why execs get paid so well, and why nonprofits charge what they do. But in a year dominated by health reform, and the power shifts it entails underway, these initiatives might actually have a chance of passing anyway. If I were a hospital exec in California, I'd queue up my best arguments for keeping those salaries and prices in place. This could turn out to be a major political battle.