Here are five things to know about the proposed legislation and where it stands now in each state:
1. In October, California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would have allowed the state to block private equity deals for most healthcare facilities.
2. In Massachusetts, political appetite for increased regulation of private equity reached a peak after Dallas-based Steward Health Care, one of the largest hospital operators in the state, filed for bankruptcy in May.
3. In June, Massachusetts lawmakers sought to pass legislation that would prevent real estate investment trusts — REITs — from owning hospitals. However, with just days left in the 2024 legislative session, the bill is still in “legislative limbo” according to Bloomberg.
4. Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Oregon, Washington and Minnesota have also attempted to pass similar legislation, according to Bloomberg.
5. Critics of the bills in Massachusetts and California bills, which advanced the furthest of similar state legislation, say they “unfairly” blamed private equity and real estate firms for larger problems in the healthcare industry at large.
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