Rhode Island Lawmakers File Bills to Regulate Private Equity in Health Care

PROVIDENCE, RI —Rhode Island lawmakers have introduced companion bills to protect the state's health care system from issues associated with private equity ownership and the corporate practice of medicine.

State Sen. Linda Ujifusa, D-Portsmouth, Bristol, and state Representative Kathleen A. Fogarty, D-South Kingstown, introduced the bills.

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The first bill addresses private equity ownership in health care, according to a media release, and the second addresses the corporate practice of medicine, including corporate rollups.

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In the release, Fogarty said the legislation “strengthens transparency, oversight and accountability for private corporate actors that can currently extract profits from Rhode Island health care providers with little public scrutiny, often at the expense of patients, health care workers, and community stability.”

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“This legislation strengthens transparency, oversight and accountability for private corporate actors that can currently extract profits from Rhode Island health care providers with little public scrutiny, often at the expense of patients, health care workers, and community stability,” Fogarty said in the release.

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“Private corporate control of health care can distort clinical decision-making, force staffing and service cuts, and divert resources away from patient care and into shareholder pockets," Ujifusa said in the release. "When profit comes before patients, people get hurt and lives are put at risk.”

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