Health Inequity Profiteering by Private Equity Firms

This article explains how some investment practices of private equity (PE) firms generate profit by taking advantage of inequitably underserved patients in the US health care system. In particular, patients with general medical or mental health needs who seek care at safety-net hospitals or in carceral facilities and patients seeking mental health services are vulnerable to the following PE strategies: purchasing low-quality practices where patients lack opportunities to get care elsewhere, maximizing consolidation of deeply fragmented health service delivery systems, and avoiding accountability for poor-quality service that results from regulatory opacity. For each problem area, the article offers a policy response to mitigate harm to patients.