FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:                         
May 13, 2026

CONTACT:
Renée Saldaña
[email protected]

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Signatures submitted in support of the Healthcare Executive Compensation Act have been verified by county election officials, moving the campaign closer to qualifying the measure for the November 2026 ballot.

With Congress poised to cut up to $30 billion in annual federal healthcare funding to California, more than one million voters signed the petition demanding that hospital revenues go to patient care, reflecting broad statewide frustration over runaway executive compensation at a time when healthcare costs are already soaring.

Frontline healthcare workers say this inititiave is necessary as too many of California’s hospitals are paying extravagant amounts of money, up to millions of dollars a year, to company executives, including:

• CEO of Dignity Health: $15.4 million
• CEO of Kaiser Permanente: $12.9 million
• CEO of Sutter Health: $11.9 million
• CEO of Cedars-Sinai: $8.8 million

At the same time, medical costs are soaring, healthcare workers are struggling with low pay and poor working conditions, and patients are facing longer waits and lower-quality care.

“Every day, I see how our healthcare system isn’t working as well as it could or should for most people. Lavish, multi-million-dollar executive salaries tower above the wages of frontline healthcare workers, while patients struggle to afford basic care,” said Zelda Aaron, a licensed clinical social worker at Dignity Health – Community Hospital of San Bernardino. “The primary concern of our health providers should be serving the community, not enriching individuals. Now, voters will have the chance to decide where their healthcare dollars should go – to improving patient care or into the pockets of corporate executives.”

The Healthcare Executive Compensation Act would cap total annual compensation for executives, administrators, and managers at nonprofit and for-profit hospitals and medical groups at $450,000 per year, ensuring more hospital revenue is directed toward patient care.

The next step is the Secretary of State confirming the measure has qualified for the November 2026 ballot, when California voters will have the opportunity to vote on the intiative. For more information, visit CareOverCEOs.org.

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SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW) is a healthcare justice union of more than 120,000 healthcare workers, patients, and healthcare activists united to ensure affordable, accessible, high-quality care for all Californians provided by valued and respected healthcare workers.