In response to the presentation by Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Representative Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA-05) on The Reclaim Our Hospitals Actwhich would effectively prohibit private equity firms from owning hospitals and skilled nursing facilities, the American Economic Liberties Project issued the following statement.
“Private equity ownership of health care facilities raises prices, lowers wages, reduces accessibility, and degrades patient care.” said Emma Freer, senior policy analyst for health care at the American Economic Liberties Project. “The Economic Liberties Organization is proud to endorse the Reclaim Our Hospitals Act, which would protect patients, employer health plan sponsors, and taxpayers from private equity exploitation as the latest step toward breaking up big medical companies.”
The Reclaim Our Hospitals Act would prohibit hospitals and skilled nursing facilities owned by a private equity corporation from receiving Medicare reimbursements. Extensive research shows that private equity ownership in health care is associated with higher costs, lower wages, and perhaps most importantly, worse outcomes for patients, including significantly higher mortality rates.
The Economic Liberties Organization has called for this type of structural separation — to ensure that insurers, brokers and other business entities, such as private equity firms, cannot own or control health care providers — since 2024, in both. White papers and Popular press. In early 2025, the Economic Liberties Organization launched Deconstructing Big Medicine An initiative to bring together independent healthcare professionals, patient advocates, employers and policy experts who support structural reforms in the healthcare sector. This alliance has been activated for Personal events Across the country, from Austin to New Orleans, support complementary legislation, including:
- Bipartisanship Deconstructing the Big Law of Medicine by Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Josh Hawley (R-MA), which would prohibit insurers, pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), and wholesale drug distributors from owning or controlling providers.
- the Patients over profits law Written by Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Representative Val Howell (D-OR-04), which would prohibit insurance companies from owning certain Medicare providers.
- Bipartisanship Patients before monopoly lawby Senators Warren and Hawley and Representatives Jake Auchincloss (D-MA-04) and Diana Harshbarger (R-TN-01), which would prohibit PBMs from owning pharmacies.
- the Medicines for the People Actby Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI-12), which would break up the monopoly of Big Pharma by creating a public option for pharmaceutical research and development.
Learn more about the Break Up Big Medicine initiative here.
Source link
