Private Equity Firms Exploit Patients
Seeking Emergency Care
The growing presence of private equity-backed providers is becoming an all too common influence in the health system – and one of the leading drivers behind egregious surprise medical bills that bankrupt families across the country. Learn more about how private equity firms exploit the market at the expense of patients – and why surprise medical billing reforms need to address the soaring cost of these bills.
Air Ambulance Companies Prove The Sky Isn’t The Limit When It Comes to Surprise Billing
How it started: Brookings – High air ambulance charges concentrated in private equity-owned carriers (October 13, 2020) “…rapid growth in air ambulance prices is borne by consumers both through higher insurance premiums and more directly through cost-sharing and...
Axios: Hospitals Charge A Lot More When Wall Street Owns Them
By Sam Baker Hospitals owned by private equity firms rake in almost 30% more income than hospitals that aren’t, according to new research published this week in JAMA Internal Medicine. Why it matters: Private equity is gobbling up more and more of the health care...
New HHS Report Calls Out Private Equity As Leading Culprit Behind Patients’ Surprise Medical Bills, Calls on Congress to Act
A new report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services provides the strongest call yet for Congress to finally take action on surprise medical bills, calling the practice “a market failure that will not correct itself.” Today, millions of patients are...
Private Equity Firms Think They Have Won The Surprise Billing Battle – Why That Is A Bad Thing For Patients
Private Equity Firms Think They Have Won The Surprise Billing Battle – Why That Is A Bad Thing For Patients At a time when millions of patients are still at risk of bankrupting surprise medical bills, those most responsible for these charges appear to be taking a...
Bloomberg: Private Equity Lands Billion-Dollar Backdoor Hospital Bailout
Congress has yet to take action to protect patients from surprise medical bills – leaving millions of Americans at the whim of private equity firms and out-of-network providers. Instead, the federal government has approved massive taxpayer-funded bailouts for...
Coalition Statement on House HEROES Legislation
Washington, DC - Following the release of the latest COVID relief legislation from the U.S. House of Representatives, the Coalition Against Surprise Medical Billing issued the following statement: “Establishing guardrails to prevent surprise medical bills from private...
ProPublica: Medical Staffing Companies Cut Doctors’ Pay While Spending Millions on Political Ads
Below are excerpts from ProPublica. "Private equity-backed medical staffing companies that have cut doctors’ pay are continuing to spend millions on political ads, according to Federal Communications Commission disclosures." "The ads amount to $2.2 million since...
Kaiser Health News: In Fine Print, HHS Appears To Ban All Surprise Billing During The Pandemic
Below are excerpts from Kaiser Health News. Read the full story here. "Federal officials offering emergency funding to hospitals, clinics and doctors’ practices have included this stipulation: They cannot foist surprise medical bills on COVID-19 patients. But buried...
ProPublica: Medical Staffing Companies Owned by Rich Investors Cut Doctor Pay and Now Want Bailout Money
Below are excerpts from ProPublica. "Medical staffing companies — some of which are owned by some of the country’s richest investors and have been cutting pay for doctors on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic — are seeking government bailout money." "Private...
ProPublica: ER Staffing Company Reverses Benefits Cuts for Doctors and Nurses Fighting Coronavirus
Below are excerpts from ProPublica. "A major medical staffing company said it wouldn’t go through with cuts to doctors’ pay and benefits after ProPublica first reported the plans." "Alteon Health, which employs more than 1,700 doctors and other medical workers...