Protecting patients and society in an era of private equity provider ownership: Challenges and opportunities for policy

Protecting patients and society in an era of private equity provider ownership: Challenges and opportunities for policy
Health Affairs; by Christopher Cai, Zirui Song; 5/24
Private equity (PE) acquisitions in health care delivery nearly tripled from 2010 to 2020. Despite concerns around clinical and economic implications, policy responses have remained limited. We discuss the US policy landscape around PE ownership, using policies in the European Union for comparison. We present four domains in which policy can be strengthened.

1. First, to improve oversight of acquisitions, policy makers should lower reporting thresholds, review sequential acquisitions that together affect market power, automate reviews with potential denials based on market concentration effects, consider new regulatory mechanisms such as attorney general veto, and increase funding for this work.
2. Second, policy makers should increase the longer-run transparency of PE ownership, including the health care prices garnered by acquired entities.
3. Third, policy makers should protect patients and providers by establishing minimum staffing ratios, spending floors for direct patient care, and limits on layoffs and the sale of real estate after acquisition (forms of “asset stripping”).
4. Finally, policy makers should mitigate risky financial behavior by limiting the amount or proportion of debt used to finance PE acquisitions in health care.