“But a first-of-its-kind Massachusetts law that Governor Maura Healey signed this month will rein in private equity greed in health care, offer hope that the state can avoid similar future crises, and serve as a model for other states to build on.
The new law effectively bans deals like the one Steward made with MPT, a real estate investment trust.
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Why is such legislation necessary? It’s worth looking back at why private equity was so keenly interested in hospitals in the first place. Essentially, private equity firms made a bet that following the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, demand for hospital services would greatly increase, and taxpayer funds would boost hospital revenues as utilization rates rose. Private equity firms such as Cerberus, Leonard Green & Partners, and Apollo Global Management snapped up hundreds of hospital properties across the country.”
