Sponsor
Maggie Goodlander
Representative · D-NH
Representative · D-NH
The bill increases transparency, enforcement, and accountability to protect patients, pensions, and federal health programs, but does so at the cost of greater liability and criminal exposure for investors and executives, tax and compliance changes that may raise costs for some investors and providers, and risks of chilled investment or service disruption.
Patients harmed by providers (and employee pensioners) gain a clearer path to restitution because executives and private funds can be held liable with clawbacks and penalties, creating stronger deterrence against unsafe conduct.
Medicare/Medicaid programs and taxpayers are better protected because the bill deters REIT-style transactions that can siphon program funds or mask ownership changes, helping preserve program integrity and reduce improper payments.
Patients, regulators, and researchers benefit from greater transparency because hospitals and health systems must disclose ownership, affiliations, and financial identifiers (with audits and civil penalties to enforce accuracy), improving consumer choice and oversight of consolidation and conflicts of interest.
Executives, private equity firms, and investors face large financial and criminal liability risks (clawbacks, multi‑times civil penalties, and potential prison terms), which could chill investment in health‑care acquisitions and lead to defensive restructurings.
Hospitals, physician groups, and other providers that rely on REIT transactions or REIT-related financing risk losing eligibility for Federal health program payments or facing higher costs and reduced financing options, potentially disrupting services and harming patients.
Owners of REITs and investors receiving REIT dividends, including some middle‑class pass‑through investors, will likely face higher tax bills because REITs/REIT dividends lose prior favorable tax/QBI treatment.
Based on analysis of 7 sections of legislative text.
Establishes criminal/civil liability and clawbacks for corporate conduct causing patient harm, removes certain REIT tax benefits and QBI treatment, mandates public ownership reporting, and directs an HHS OIG study.
Official title: To prevent exploitative private equity practices, and for other purposes.
Introduced February 12, 2026 by Maggie Goodlander · Last progress February 12, 2026
Creates new criminal and civil liability and a broad clawback power when corporate actions tied to the acquisition or control of a health‑care provider cause patient death or injury; removes several preferential tax rules and tax benefits for REIT-owned health‑care property and REIT dividends; requires annual, public ownership and control reporting for a wide class of health‑related entities; and directs an HHS OIG study of profit‑driven practices in health care. Penalties include prison terms, large civil fines, clawback of compensation for up to 10 years around a triggering event, loss of federal health program payments for certain REIT transactions, and potential $5 million civil penalties for false or missing ownership reports.