Comment by nradov
2 hours ago
PE is a convenient whipping boy but it's not the main problem. There has been so much consolidation of health systems and other provider organizations in some regions that they now effectively have monopolies, allowing them to jack up prices. The effect is largely the same whether the owner is a PE firm or a non-profit foundation. In order to counteract that we would need much more vigorous antitrust enforcement, which doesn't seem politically likely.
Isn’t it fair to argue that it’s PE doing all this consolidation?
No, it's not fair to argue that. While PE has done some roll ups with certain specialties in certain areas the big health systems are mostly not owned by PE firms. In some areas they're literally owned by churches. I'm not defending abusive PE practices here but if we want to fix anything we need to be clear about what's actually happening.
I'm so sick of this trope. "It's the insurance companies!" "No, it's private equity!" "No, it's the PBMs!" I don't care. Jesus Christ, going to the doctor is rapidly becoming unattainable for more and more people, including the PMC now, and all of the rich people are simply pointing at each other saying "it's the other guy!".
Burn it all down, start over.