Markey, Warren Sound Alarm Over Private Equity Firm's Deal to Buy Doctors Group

Both of Massachusetts' Democratic U.S. senators on Tuesday expressed concern about a private equity firm striking a $245 million deal to buy the nationwide physicians network of the for-profit Steward Health Care, which filed for bankruptcy in May.

The network, Stewardship Health, has about 5,000 employees across nine states and serves around 400,000 patients, according to Steward. It is set to be acquired by Rural Healthcare Group, an affiliate of Kinderhook Industries.

"Steward also operates eight hospitals in Massachusetts," The Boston Globe reported Monday. "Last month, it said it will close two of them, Carney Hospital in Dorchester and Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer, by August 31. It's currently in the final stages of negotiations to sell the other six."

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a former bankruptcy law professor, noted the planned closures in her social media post urging regulators to review the deal.

"Two Massachusetts hospitals are closing and communities are suffering because of private equity's looting of Steward," she said. "Selling Massachusetts doctors to another private equity firm could be a disaster. We can't make the same mistake again. Regulators must scrutinize this deal."

In March, Steward had confirmed plans for the Optum unit of insurer UnitedHealth to buy the network, but that was never finalized.

"As part of the ongoing Chapter 11 proceedings, following a robust and active bidding process, Steward Health Care is pleased to have reached an agreement with Rural Healthcare Group," Steward Health Care president Mark Rich said in a Monday statement. "Kinderhook has over 20 years of experience investing in mid-sized healthcare businesses that serve the nations' most vulnerable populations."

"Kinderhook's investments are focused on protecting access to high-quality healthcare in communities that are truly underserved," Rich added. "Rural Healthcare Group is a well-respected group of healthcare professionals that specifically focuses on underserved and underinsured areas. We are confident that Stewardship Health will continue its stellar treatment of the patient population as a result of this transaction."

According to the Globe:

In an attachment to an overnight filing with U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston, the company listed the purchase price as $245 million in cash.

That price is subject to change, the filing indicated, depending on several factors still to be determined, including whether U.S. Family Plan at Brighton Marine, a Boston health insurance agency, is included in the transaction. The filing listed the buyer as Brady Health Buyer LLC, a company set up by New York-based Kinderhook to purchase Stewardship.

The newspaper noted that "the sale to Rural Healthcare is subject to the approval of U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez at a Houston hearing scheduled for Friday. It's also subject to regulatory approval in Massachusetts and other states."

As Common Dreams reported last month, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), led the panel in bipartisan votes to authorize a probe into the bankruptcy of Steward Health Care (20-1) and subpoena CEO Ralph de la Torre (16-4).

The same day, Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), a committee member, and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) introduced the Health Over Wealth Act, which would increase the powers of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to monitor and block private equity deals in the healthcare industry.

"Private equity firms buying up healthcare systems are simply bad news for patients, leading to worse health outcomes and higher bills," Jayapal said at the time. "We have a duty to protect patients from greedy corporations that are prioritizing their bottom line over patient care."

In response to news of the doctors group deal, Markey said Tuesday that "private equity did to Steward what it will keep doing to hospitals and physician networks across the U.S.—unless we put guardrails on them. We need to pass my Health Over Wealth Act to get corporate greed out of healthcare for good."