FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, February 11, 2026

CONTACT: press@unacuhcp.org

**Strike photos and videos here, courtesy of UNAC/UHCP**

 

STRIKING NURSES AND HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS BACK TRANSPARENCY BILL REQUIRING KAISER TO DISCLOSE INVESTMENTS

 

Nonprofit health care giant has financial ties to private prisons and ICE detention centers, while dangerously understaffing its hospitals  

 

Unfair Labor Practice strike continues across California

 

SACRAMENTO — As United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals (UNAC/UHCP)’s Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) strike against Kaiser Permanente continues its third week, a California state lawmaker is leading the fight for transparency, accountability, and safe patient care in the nonprofit health care system.

 

California State Assemblymember Liz Ortega (D-San Leandro) has introduced AB 1799, a bill that would require nonprofit health plans that receive significant state subsidies — like Kaiser Permanente — to disclose direct and indirect investments, including holdings tied to for-profit prisons and immigrant detention corporations.

 

Nonprofit health care plans benefit from public subsidies and taxpayer support because of their obligation to put patients and community health first. Californians pay premiums and fund Medi-Cal and other public programs, and they deserve to have confidence that their dollars are being used to improve care, expand access, and strengthen safety nets — not quietly routed through investment portfolios in ways that undermine public health and harm the very communities these nonprofits are meant to serve.

 

As documented in a recent UNAC/UHCP report, Kaiser Permanente directs investment dollars into ICE detention and private prison contractors CoreCivic and The GEO Group. Even indirect investments provide capital, normalize a profit-driven business model built on detention, and deepen broader harms.

 

While Kaiser claims it “cannot afford” safe staffing levels and quality care, it has continued to pay executives multi-million dollar salaries and sit on billions in profits and reserves. Kaiser has the resources, but chooses to put them elsewhere.

 

Kaiser Permanente’s own financial reports show it has plenty of money to invest in the frontline staffing patients depend on. Kaiser posted more than $9.3 billion in record profits last year, with more than $127.7 billion in total operating revenue. Its 1.1 percent operating margin (more than doubled over last year’s financial performance) means ample financial capacity to invest in safe staffing and retention to meet patient needs without threatening stability or affordability. Last year’s colossal profits could easily allow Kaiser to give each of its members in Hawaii and California a $500 rebate, pay its nurses and health care professionals competitive wages, and still add billions to their reserves — which currently total more than $67 billion.

 

“We came to Kaiser dreaming of healing patients, supporting families, and being there in the hardest moments of people’s lives,” said Iris Henderson, a registered nurse at Kaiser Panorama City.  “What we didn’t dream about was being exhausted, burned out, misused, and disrespected — working unsafe shifts, filing thousands of staffing reports, and watching preventable crises happen every single day.”

 

For patients and families, transparency is a tool for real change. When health care dollars are tracked in the open, Californians can push for investments that lower costs, improve quality, and keep people covered, including protecting and strengthening Medi-Cal access for immigrant communities. AB 1799 creates the transparency and accountability necessary to put patient care ahead of profit, and to ensure public resources and premium dollars are driving healthier communities.

 

UNAC/UHCP is calling on the California state legislature to pass this critical legislation. The union continues to call on Kaiser to return to the bargaining table in good faith and invest in the frontline caregivers that make public health accessible and quality care possible every day.

 

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United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals (UNAC/UHCP) represents more than 40,000 registered nurses and healthcare professionals in California and Hawaii, including optometrists; pharmacists; physical, occupational and speech therapists; case managers; nurse midwives; social workers; clinical lab scientists; physician assistants and nurse practitioners; hospital support and technical staff. UNAC/UHCP is affiliated with the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees (NUHHCE) and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), AFL-CIO.

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