Last Friday, September 27, the House of Representatives officially published the text of H.R. 9156, the Health Over Wealth Act, introduced in July by Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-WA). This bill would place new requirements on private investment in the health care industry, to include requiring the Department of Health & Human Services to review and approve any mergers/acquisitions of a "health care facility" by a REIT or Private Equity firm.

Argentum is pleased to confirm that the House version of the bill does not include assisted living in the definitions of covered health care entities subject to the bill’s requirements; it is therefore a direct companion of S. 4804 introduced in July by Senator Ed Markey (D-MA). While we were internally confident that both the House and Senate version were the same, as communicated by lawmakers in our outreach, we were not able to officially confirm this until the House of Representatives published the text of the legislation.

We sincerely appreciate all the advocacy efforts by our State Partner, the Massachusetts Assisted Living Association (Mass-ALA), our members, and other stakeholders who helped make this possible. Excluding assisted living from the bill is a direct result of a months-long campaign to raise serious concerns about the consequences of limiting private capital investment in assisted living.

Last Thursday, Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) introduced S. 4804, the Health Over Wealth Act, a bill to place new requirements on private investment in the health care industry. A House companion bill, H.R. 9156, was introduced by U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-WA).

After months of sustained advocacy efforts in which Argentum called for assisted living to be exempted from any private equity legislation, the final version of the legislation as it was introduced does not include assisted living in the primary definition of covered health care entities subject to the bill's requirements.

This is significant because, while the legislation has little chance of passage in the closing weeks of the 118th Congress, it was critical that assisted living be exempted from the definition in the event that provisions of the bill are added to other legislation in this Congress or, as is likely, it is reintroduced in the next Congress.

Argentum worked directly with Senator Markey's office and key members of the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee since the discussion draft was first released in April. In addition, Argentum along with its State Partner, the Massachusetts Assisted Living Association, held meetings with Senator Markey’s office to discuss why assisted living did not belong with other entities that were initially included in the legislation, as well as the positive impact private finance has on the senior living sector that has yielded quality care and high resident satisfaction.

Argentum Advocates Monthly Policy Briefing Join us this Wednesday, July 31 at 2:00 p.m. ET for the Argentum Advocates monthly policy briefing, which will provide important details about the Health Over Wealth Act and our efforts to exclude assisted living from the legislation. Argentum Advocates are invited to these exclusive sessions to hear directly from Argentum’s federal lobbyists on our current federal and state public policy efforts. Register now.

This morning, the prestigious Journal of Health Affairs published an editorial (“Private Equity Investment In Assisted Living: Distinct Impacts And Policy Considerations”) on its policy blog Forefront by a team of academic researchers from Brown University, Georgetown University, Johns Hopkins University, and others studying private equity (PE) investment in assisted living. 

Yesterday, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Ed Markey (D-MA) introduced S. 4503, the Corporate Crimes Against Health Care Act of 2024 to address alleged private equity and corporate abuse in health care (see bill text and summary). It was introduced in response to the Steward Health Care bankruptcy affecting 8 hospitals in Massachusetts.

The legislation primarily targets hospitals, certain physician practices and nursing homes, but also includes assisted living communities, hospice programs, and home health agencies among other specified entities subject to the legislation. The bill also provides the Secretary of the Department of Health the authority to add other entities that “furnish health care items and services” and imposes a number of criminal, civil and financial sanctions and requirements on private equity and similar entities as well as executives.

Provisions in the legislation include: