{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/markey-jayapal-introduce-updated-legislation-to-set-strong-guardrails-for-private-equity-in-healthcare", "Markey, Jayapal Introduce Updated Legislation to Set Strong Guardrails for Private Equity in Healthcare", "2026-07-23", "2026", "2026-07", "Democrat", "Senate", "MA", "Edward J. Markey", "M000133", "www.markey.senate.gov", "markey", "https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Bill Text (PDF) | One-Pager (PDF)\n\nWashington (July 23, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security, and Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) today reintroduced the Health Over Wealth Act, legislation that would require greater transparency into private equity firms and for-profit companies that own healthcare entities, including hospitals, nursing homes, and mental or behavioral health facilities. The legislation would put safeguards in place to protect workers, patients, and healthcare quality, access, and safety; create stronger accountability measures for corporate greed; and close tax loopholes that benefit real estate investment trusts making money off of healthcare property.\n\nThe bill includes a new provision subjecting private equity companies that own suppliers of medical equipment, such as wheelchairs and hospital beds, to transparency requirements. Private equity-owned wheelchair companies are causing dangerously long waits for wheelchair repairs for Massachusetts residents.\n\n\u201cCorporate greed is running rampant in every industry, but it is especially dangerous in healthcare,\u201d said Senator Markey. \u201cWhen private equity firms put profit over patients, our loved ones are harmed, health workers suffer, and communities are left to clean up the mess. The Steward Health Care crisis in Massachusetts was just one symptom of a larger infection in our healthcare system that allows corporate wealth to come before the public\u2019s health. We need guardrails against reckless corporate greed\u2014and that is exactly what the Health Over Wealth Act provides. I am thankful to my partners, including Congresswoman Jayapal and my Senate colleagues, for their leadership in putting people before profit.\u201d\n\n\u201cFor decades, private equity firms have been aggressively acquiring health care entities. That\u2019s all-around bad news for patients as consolidation in the healthcare industry leads to worse health outcomes, less transparency, and sky-high bills. We have a responsibility to protect patients from greedy corporations that are prioritizing their bottom line over patient care. I\u2019m proud to be leading the Health Over Wealth Act with Senator Markey to crack down on private equity ownership in healthcare, increase transparency, close loopholes, and ensure that we are putting patients over corporate profits,\u201d said Congresswoman Jayapal.\n\nThe Health Over Wealth Act is cosponsored by Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Tina Smith (D-Minn.), and Representatives Chris Deluzio (PA-17), and Yvette Clarke (NY-09).\n\nSpecifically, the Health Over Wealth Act would:\n\nRequire that private equity-owned healthcare entities\u2014including suppliers of durable medical equipment\u2014publicly report on their debt and executive pay, lobbying and political spending, health care costs for patients and insurance plans, and any reductions in services, wages, or benefits\n\nRequire that private equity-owned firms set up escrow accounts to cover five years of expenses to ensure continuation of care in the event of a hospital closure or service reduction\n\nAuthorize the Department of Health and Human Services to revoke investment licenses from private equity firms that price gouge, understaff, or create barriers to care\n\nEstablish a task force to review the role of private equity and consolidation in healthcare, including how market trends create or exacerbate healthcare disparities\n\nProhibit private equity firms from stripping assets from healthcare entities or undermining quality, safety, or access to healthcare\n\nClose tax loopholes for real estate investors to disincentivize healthcare entities from selling their property and then paying exorbitant rents to these investors\n\nThe legislation is endorsed by American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), AFT: Education, Healthcare, Public Services, Americans for Financial Reform, National Nurses United (NNU), Moral Injury of Healthcare, Private Equity Stakeholder Project, Public Citizen, and United Steelworkers (USW).\n\nSenator Markey has advocated for transparency and accountability for private equity in healthcare in the wake of the Steward hospital crisis, when unconstrained corporate greed led to the collapse of the healthcare system.\n\nIn June, Senator Markey wrote to Keith Sonderling, Acting Secretary of the Department of Labor, raising the alarm for a proposed rule that would expose Americans\u2019 retirement savings to greater risk by opening the door to expanded private equity investments in 401(k)s and other retirement plans. This extractive private equity model has led to the collapse of Steward Health Care, hospital closures, and mismanaged nursing homes.\n\nIn October 2025, Senator Markey introduced the Stop Medical Profiteering and Theft (MPT) Act, legislation that would put regulatory guardrails in place to protect health systems from predatory leaseback deals with real estate investment trusts (REITs). Steward Health Care declared bankruptcy after being tied to unsustainable rents charged by a REIT, Medical Properties Trust. Many REIT leases include automatic, expensive rent increases that can lead to health systems diverting resources away from patient care to rent payments or, in some cases, bankruptcy.\n\nIn September 2024, Senator Markey released his report, \u201cThe Steward Health Care Report: How Corporate Greed Hurt Patients, Health Workers, and Communities,\u201d which spotlighted patient and worker experiences, hospital quality data, and information on hospital closures in Massachusetts and around the country due to Steward\u2019s mismanagement. That same month, Senator Markey fought to have the Senate vote to refer Steward Health CEO Ralph de la Torre for criminal contempt, which it did unanimously, for failing to respond to a subpoena issued by the Senate HELP Committee. In September 2025, Senator Markey wrote a letter to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi urging enforcement of the Senate\u2019s criminal contempt referral of Dr. de la Torre.\n\n###", 1, "2026-07-24T07:30:11Z", "2026-07-24T07:31:13Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/markey-jayapal-introduce-updated-legislation-to-set-strong-guardrails-for-private-equity-in-healthcare"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.7250077798962593, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}