If we go through with the $25 an hour minimum wage for everyone involved with health care, it will cost the State of California, the taxpayers, an extra $4 billion. That is on top of the $68 billion deficit. It will also add to the cost of health care, forcing some to do without. This minimum wage is literally a killer, of people and health care.
“The costs are beginning to come into focus now that the Newsom administration is releasing projections for how the wage hike could drive up the price of providing health care to Californians for government agencies. That figure, at least $4 billion with about $2 billion from the state’s general fund and another $2 billion from the federal government, does not include anticipated pay increases for public employees.
The unions and lawmakers who advocated for the wage increase say it is necessary to improve the lives of overworked health care workers. Union representatives say many workers have quit their jobs, leaving health care systems understaffed and exacerbating conditions for other employees.”
This is another example of government help, hurting all of us. The $3 an hour extra this worker will get is NOT $3 , it is really about $1.50—when you consider taxes, added deductions for government programs, etc. In the end, everyone, but politicians lose.
Minimum wage hike for California health workers will cost billions. Workers say they need it
BY SHREYA AGRAWAL, CalMatters, 11/13/23 https://calmatters.org/health/2023/11/california-health-care-minimum-wage-cost/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=California+s+budget+deficit+could+hit+record+next+year&utm_campaign=WhatMatters&vgo_ee=tCxTwlt%2FgYXQIbXGZMoR88hWbWyBfwfgHAG3q%2FNyhgnMqwjymsjT1CTD%3AhCjMIrig1gYK1Egp0x3kbLn149eDwvTM
IN SUMMARY
More than half a million California health care workers are expected to see a pay increase in January thanks to a law raising the minimum wage for their industry. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the law without a clear estimate about how much it would cost the state.
Alvin Mauricio Medina works three jobs six days a week to support his family as the sole provider for their Los Angeles household. He’s a certified nursing assistant with a dream to move up to a higher-paying position in health care.
“I’m trying to better myself, I’m trying to move on to being a registered nurse. But here in California, with the low wages that we have, either you work or you’re going to school,” he said.
Now 45, he has been working in health care for more than 20 years and makes less than $22 an hour. While his main job is at a hospital in Hollywood, he picks up shifts as a nurse assistant at other hospitals to provide for his husband, who is unable to work, and two kids.
He’s expecting to get a break come January, thanks to a law Gov. Gavin Newsom signed last month that creates a higher minimum wage for health care workers. The measure, which gradually raises the industry minimum wage to $25 an hour, had support from both unions and the lobbying group that represents California hospitals. But lawmakers passed the bill — and Newsom signed it — without a cost estimate.
The costs are beginning to come into focus now that the Newsom administration is releasing projections for how the wage hike could drive up the price of providing health care to Californians for government agencies. That figure, at least $4 billion with about $2 billion from the state’s general fund and another $2 billion from the federal government, does not include anticipated pay increases for public employees.
The unions and lawmakers who advocated for the wage increase say it is necessary to improve the lives of overworked health care workers. Union representatives say many workers have quit their jobs, leaving health care systems understaffed and exacerbating conditions for other employees.
“These are everyday people doing their jobs, struggling to make ends meet, struggling to pay rent,” said Todd Stenhouse, spokesperson for AFSCME 3299, the union that represents blue-collar workers in the University of California health system. “They deserve stability, security. Their work deserves value.”
The new cost estimates are unsurprising to Republican lawmakers who opposed the wage increase. Democratic lawmakers passed the measure despite the state’s projected $31 billion budget deficit.
“This bill places astronomical labor costs on health care providers when hospitals across the state deal with financial losses,” said Republican Assemblymember Vince Fong of Bakersfield. “We were concerned that this bill will lead to reduced services, increased premiums, more hospital closures, reduced job opportunities.”
