About Minimum Wage
Health care is about people taking care of people — and California’s health care workforce is in crisis. Hospitals now face the worst staffing shortages in memory. No one wants health care workers to struggle because they aren’t paid an adequate wage, however an across-the-board $25 per hour minimum wage for all hospital workers is inequitable because it fails to account for the significant differences in the cost of living in different parts of California.
Increasing the minimum wage for only hospital workers will likely cause a “ripple effect” on other segments of the health care system. Clinics, skilled nursing facilities and other providers will be under pressure to either raise wages to similar levels or face even greater staffing shortfalls. And any minimum wage hike must be analyzed by the new Office of Health Care Affordability, which has been charged by the Legislature and Administration with slowing the growth of health care costs in California.
Minimum Wage Bill Threatens Access to Care
A bill that claims to address health care worker retention in fact jeopardizes health care jobs, treats California’s essential workers inequitably, and reduces access to care throughout the state.