Gov. Tina Kotek signed a bill enacting the strictest regulatory regime on private equity and corporate control of medical practices in the nation, Oregon Capital Chronicle reported June 9.
The law provides a three-year window for facilities to comply with the new rules. It mandates that physicians hold at least a 51% stake in most medical practices, while excluding corporations and management service organizations s from decision-making control of practices.
The law also bans noncompete agreements that prohibit physicians from moving to facilities in the surrounding area.
Similar legislation failed to pass in 2024 due to pushback from Republican lawmakers, according to the report. The law also received pushback from corporations, including Amazon, and the statewide nonprofit Oregon Ambulatory Surgery Center Association, who claimed that private investment is “vital” to growth in a letter to lawmakers in March.
Institutions such as hospitals, tribal health facilities, behavioral health facilities and crisis lines are exempt from the new rules. Supporters said that the legislation is a necessary corrective to increased “corporatization” of healthcare facilities within the state.
“We’re at an inflection point in this country when it comes to the corporatization of healthcare,” said Oregon House Majority Leader Ben Bowman in a statement May 28 following the bill’s passage in the chamber. “With the passage of this bill, every Oregonian will know that decisions in exam rooms are being made by doctors, not corporate executives.”
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