Merkley Joins Push to Ban Private Equity from Owning Nursing Homes and Hospitals

Washington, D.C. - Oregon's U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley put his support behind the Take Back Our Hospitals Act, a bill to effectively ban private equity ownership of hospitals and nursing homes by making them ineligible to receive Medicare funding.

More than 400 hospitals and nursing homes are currently owned and operated by private equity firms, despite overwhelming research revealing disastrous outcomes for patients and workers. After private equity takeovers, hospitals and nursing homes routinely slash services, staffing, and supplies, and upcharge patients while degrading the quality of care. Patients in private equity-owned hospitals are more likely to experience infections and complications, while elderly patients living in nursing homes owned by private equity face an 11% higher mortality rate. Private equity firms follow a 'buy, strip, flip' playbook to reap short-term profits, and sell off what's left, leaving patients and entire communities to deal with the life-or-death consequences.

As health care cuts from Trump and Republicans' 'Big, Ugly Betrayal' law continue to cause hospital, nursing home, and health care facility closures nationwide-totaling over 750 closures to date-private equity positions itself to take over financially distressed providers throughout the country. The Take Back Our Hospitals Act would ensure private equity cannot wreak further havoc on patients and communities already reeling from the Trump Administration's health care catastrophe.

"Sick patients should never be used to turn healthy profits. But that's exactly what is happening in Oregon and across the nation as greedy corporate executives turn hospitals and nursing homes into profit centers," said Merkley. "We must crack down on private equity, whose greed is destroying our health care system for executives' and shareholders' profit, while patients are stuck footing the bill."

According to the Private Equity Risk Index, 3.4% of hospitals in Oregon are controlled by private equity, and 0.8% of nursing homes in Oregon are controlled by private equity. In addition, Oregon has a health risk score of 67 out of 100, which is considered high risk, and makes Oregon the seventh riskiest state in terms of health risk and private equity.

Merkley has long warned about the corporate takeover of health care. Earlier this Congress, he introduced new legislation to tackle corporate greed in health care-the Patients Over Profits Act-to crack down on health insurers and their subsidiaries who are buying up clinics and physician practices-a trend that reduces competition, drives up costs, and limits patient choice.

The Take Back Our Hospitals Act was led by U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) and U.S. Representative Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05).

Full text of the bill can be found by clicking here.

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