Feds Target Private Equity — and Payer — Investment in Providers

The Federal Trade Commission, Dept. of Justice and HHS on March 5 released a request for information (RFI) on private equity (PE) and “other corporations’” — including payers’ — ownership of health care providers, citing concerns over patient and worker safety, consolidation, and escalating costs. In a public event held that day, the agencies presented a deeply negative view of providers currently owned by PE and tipped further enforcement actions — including a heightened emphasis on legal coordination with state antitrust regulators.

The investigation is just the latest in a series of ambitious health care antitrust moves by the Biden administration. The FTC has also launched investigations into PBMs, while the DOJ tried to block notable transactions like UnitedHealth Group’s acquisition of Change Healthcare — and in October launched a broad antitrust investigation into UnitedHealth itself, which became public in recent days. The text of the new RFI said it “complements” CMS’s recent, separate RFI on Medicare Advantage.

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Peter Johnson

Peter Johnson

Peter has worked as a journalist since 2011 and has covered health care since 2020. At AIS Health, Peter covers trends in finance, business and policy that affect the health insurance and pharma sectors. For Health Plan Weekly, he covers all aspects of the U.S. health insurance sector, including employer-sponsored insurance, Medicaid managed care, Medicare Advantage and the Affordable Care Act individual marketplaces. In Radar on Drug Benefits, Peter covers the operations of (and conflicts between) pharmacy benefit managers and pharmaceutical manufacturers, with a particular focus on pricing dynamics and market access. Before joining AIS Health, Peter covered transportation, public safety and local government for various outlets in Seattle, his hometown and current place of residence. He graduated with a B.A. from Colby College.

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