WASHINGTON, D.C. — Tenet Healthcare CEO Saum Sutaria received $43,108,969 in total compensation in 2025, according to federal Securities and Exchange Commission documents. Healthcare costs are projected to increase by 9 percent in 2026.

The House Ways and Means Committee held a hearing in April that addressed hospital spending and healthcare costs. People in the U.S. owe a collective $220 billion in medical debt, according to the Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker.

Other healthcare executives reported compensation in 2025 as well. HCA Healthcare CEO Sam Hazen received total compensation of $26,456,606. Universal Health Services President and CEO Marc Miller received $16,148,937, and Community Health Systems CEO Kevin Hammons received $4,772,869. Hammons became the permanent CEO of Community Health Systems on October 1, 2025. UnitedHealth Group CEO Stephen Hemsley received $60,950,571 in 2025. In 2024, Kaiser Permanente CEO Gregory Adams received $12,976,050, Ascension CEO Joseph Impicciche received $12,281,151, and Advocate Health CEO Gene Woods received $25,781,275.

Healthcare professionals and staff receive varying compensation. The median annual salary for registered nurses was $93,600 in 2024, while the median annual pay for physicians and surgeons was $239,200. Some hospital support staff receive minimum wage compensation. Karena Jimenez Pulido, a chief nurse representative, said, "It is simply outrageous and immoral that healthcare CEOs take home multimillion-dollar compensation packages as we workers and patients witness skyrocketing healthcare costs and face chronic short-staffing that undermines patient care in our hospitals."

Some states have proposed legislation to address executive compensation. Vermont proposed a bill to limit hospital executive and clinical leadership compensation to 10 times the salaries of the lowest-paid patient-facing employees, which did not advance into law. North Carolina and California are considering similar legislation. The Minnesota Nurses Association introduced its "Healing Greed Agenda" in 2024 to limit executive pay, though the initiative did not advance in the state Legislature.

Chris Rubesch, a registered nurse at Essentia-Duluth and president of the association, said, "Hospital executives think they run the show. They have the money to pay more than 60 lobbyists to ensure the system stays exactly like it is. But we are here today to speak with one voice and demand change."