Hospital, Private Equity Affiliations Inflating Primary Care Costs: Study

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... The consolidation of medical care has been accelerating, driven by hospitals and private equity firms seeking to optimize market power and payment rates. Primary care has experienced significant corporate interest due to its fragmented structure, demands for coordinated care, and a perceived opportunity for unrealized gains.

Prior studies have documented higher prices linked to hospital acquisitions of physician practices and increasing private equity activity in specialties such as dermatology and gastroenterology.

Data on the impact of private equity on primary care have been limited due to transparency issues. The introduction of Transparency in Coverage (TiC) rules requiring insurers to disclose in-network negotiated rates provided researchers with a window into the practice.

In the study, "Growth of Private Equity and Hospital Consolidation in Primary Care and Price Implications," published in JAMA Health Forum, researchers analyzed ...

It looks like the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is, at least, trying to start the address of the problem with private equity sucking the life out of our healthcare system ...

Massachusetts Expands Oversight of Private Equity Investment in Healthcare: Key Takeaways from House Bill 5159 Signed into Law by Governor Healey
www.sheppardhealthlaw.com

... On January 8, 2025, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey signed House Bill 5159 ("H.5159") into law, marking a notable expansion of the regulation of private equity investments within the Massachusetts healthcare sector.

The legislation, set to take effect on April 8, 2025, introduces new measures to enhance transparency and accountability in healthcare transactions, focusing specifically on private equity firms, real estate investment trusts ("REITs"), and management services organizations ("MSOs").

This development also reflects a broader trend across the nation of increasing scrutiny of healthcare transactions and investments by private equity firms and other investors, as highlighted in our previous blog series on California's Assembly Bill 3129.[i]

Key Provisions of H.5159 ...

@#5 ... Also, people using a for-profit healthcare system who have no insurance or money to pay for care with tends to make prices rise. ...

Yup.

That was one of the main reasons why the GOP, back in the 90's wanted to enact the insurance mandate, because those who could afford to pay were tired of supporting the healthcare of those who could not afford to pay.

That mandate was finally passed under fmr Pres Obama, at which point the GOP was suddenly against it.

Go figure.

@#9 ... But Obama gave us nothing except big incentives to Wall St banksters who screwed most while closing done Occupy Wall St. ...

Can you explain further WTF you are talking about?

thx.

@#13 ... Obama said in 2007 ...

Conservatives said in the 1990's ...

How the Heritage Foundation, a Conservative Think Tank, Promoted the Individual Mandate (2013)
www.forbes.com

... This came up at Tuesday's Western Republican Leadership Conference Debate, where Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich tussled on the question:

ROMNEY: Actually, Newt, we got the idea of an individual mandate from you.

GINGRICH: That's not true. You got it from the Heritage Foundation.

ROMNEY: Yes, we got it from you, and you got it from the Heritage Foundation and from you.

GINGRICH: Wait a second. What you just said is not true. You did not get that from me. You got it from the Heritage Foundation.

ROMNEY: And you never supported them?

GINGRICH: I agree with them, but I'm just saying, what you said to this audience just now plain wasn't true.

(CROSSTALK)

ROMNEY: OK. Let me ask, have you supported in the past an individual mandate?

GINGRICH: I absolutely did with the Heritage Foundation against Hillarycare.

ROMNEY: You did support an individual mandate?

ROMNEY: Oh, OK. That's what I'm saying. We got the idea from you and the Heritage Foundation.

GINGRICH: OK. A little broader.

ROMNEY: OK.

(Romney was prepared to go on, but Michele Bachmann, in her usual role as the person who makes the debates less useful, interjected and changed the subject. Here's a YouTube video of the entire debate. The Gingrich-Romney exchange begins at the 27:38 mark.) ...