Warren introduces bill to ban private equity from owning medical practices

What the Stop Corporate Takeovers of Physicians Act would do

A group of Democrats has introduced bicameral legislation to ban private equity from owning medical practices, as increasingly widespread corporate ownership continues to drive up health care costs. The bill was introduced by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) with the support of 12 other members of the Senate and House.

The text, titled the Stop Corporate Takeovers of Physicians Act of 2026, would make it unlawful for a corporate entity that is not majority-owned and controlled by licensed physicians to own or control a medical practice, employ physicians, or engage in the practice of medicine. It also prohibits management services organizations — firms that run business operations for practices — from controlling such offices. Non-profit and public health care providers, hospitals and hospital-affiliated clinics are exempted.

The legislation is based on an Oregon law aimed at beating back the corporate takeover of health care providers that took effect this year. Physicians in Eugene have already used it to prevent a corporate takeover.

The cost pressure behind the push

KFF data shows medical care costs far outpacing prices for goods and services at large, rising 121 percent compared with 86 percent for the rest of the consumer price index. Private equity investment in health care grew from $5 billion in 2000 to $104 billion in 2024.

Research collected by Georgetown University's Center on Health Insurance Reforms associates private equity ownership with worse outcomes for patients and higher costs, particularly in nursing homes. Coverage costs are climbing too: a Mercer survey found employers expect health plan costs to rise by an average of 11 percent per worker in 2027 unless benefits are cut, while Affordable Care Act marketplace premiums are projected to rise sharply.

Doctors, ownership and enforcement

Patients want to know that decisions about their health are being made by their doctors, not by Wall Street investors, Warren said. If we are going to lower costs and un-rig the health care system, we need to stop the corporate takeover of medicine.

As of this year, 82 percent of physicians are employed by hospitals or other corporate entities, according to research cited by supporters of the bill — a 20-point increase from 2019, when 62 percent were employed that way.

Marco Fernandez, president of the Association for Independent Medicine, said a prohibition is only as strong as its enforcement. The bill provides three enforcement paths: the FTC, state attorneys general suing on behalf of residents, and physicians themselves through a private right of action with treble damages. That layered enforcement, paired with mandatory divestment, is what gives the bill teeth that earlier corporate practice of medicine laws have often lacked, he said. Numerous health and advocacy groups have backed the legislation.