Sponsors (13)
The bill increases accountability and due process by holding private-equity and REIT owners of Medicare-participating facilities liable and delaying payment cuts for existing owners, but risks reduced access, higher costs, and compliance complexity that could lead to closures or consolidation—especially for newly owned facilities.
Medicare beneficiaries and current patients: private-equity firms and REITs that control facilities can be held jointly liable for penalties assessed against those facilities, improving accountability and the ability to recover payments or enforce standards.
Hospitals and skilled nursing facility patients currently owned by covered firms: facilities in place at enactment receive a 3-year transition before Medicare payment reductions, helping avoid immediate service disruptions for current patients.
Hospitals and health systems: entitlement to notice and an opportunity for a hearing before Medicare payment denial or penalties preserves due process for providers.
Medicare beneficiaries and patients: facilities owned by covered firms established after enactment could lose Medicare payments, risking closures or reduced services and therefore harming access to care.
Taxpayers, Medicare beneficiaries, and local communities (especially rural): closures or consolidations driven by payment loss could reduce competition and access, potentially increasing costs and travel burdens for patients.
Hospitals, health systems, and payers: expanded liability exposure for covered firms and affiliated entities could prompt defensive restructuring, more litigation, or higher operating costs that may be passed on to patients or taxpayers.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Bars Medicare payments to hospitals and SNFs owned or controlled by private equity funds, PE-controlled corporations, or REITs, with a 3-year grandfather for existing ownership.
Official title: To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to prevent hospitals or skilled nursing facilities that are owned by certain firms from participating in the Medicare program.
Introduced March 12, 2026 by Mary Gay Scanlon · Last progress March 12, 2026
Prohibits Medicare from paying hospitals and skilled nursing facilities that are owned or controlled by certain private investment firms, including private equity funds, corporations controlled by private equity, and REITs. Facilities already owned or controlled by such firms on enactment are exempt for three years; covered firms are jointly liable for penalties assessed against a facility and facilities subject to the ban get notice and hearing rights. Defines key terms (affiliate, control, private equity fund, REIT) and uses a 10% voting-securities threshold to determine control; also ties private equity fund definitions to existing Investment Company Act exceptions and REITs to the Internal Revenue Code definition.