Six Democratic Senators just introduced the Stop Corporate Takeovers of Physicians Act, which would prevent corporate entities from buying up doctors’ practices and directing how they practice medicine. Their bill is modeled on an Oregon law that has been successful at blocking corporate ownership of physician practices. Senator Elizabeth Warren, one of the bill’s sponsors appreciates that people want to know that their physicians are determining the care they need, reports Julia Conley for Common Dreams
If enacted, the bill would ban private equity, insurance companies and other for-profit entities from owning or controlling medical practices. Today, these corporate entities own or control four in five physicians. The two Senators from Oregon, Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, as well as Congressman Val Hoyle of Oregon, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, and Congressman Suhas Subramanyam of Virginia are also bill sponsors. No Republican has yet supported the bill.
While 30 states have laws that prohibit the corporate practice of medicine, corporations have been able to skirt their way around them, finding legal loopholes. The corporate entities owning physician practices in these states rely on management service organizations (MSOs) to get around their laws. The MSOs claim to take on “administrative duties,” and then can dictate how medicine is practiced, including staffing and billing.
As a result, corporate entities have been able to drive up health care costs while also second-guessing treating physicians to the detriment of patients. Under the new bill, physician owners of medical practices would need to be engaged in the practice of medicine. Physicians would be in charge of clinical decisions.
Importantly, the bill includes meaningful penalties for those who violate it. And, it gives the Federal Trade Commission, state attorneys general and physicians the right to sue.
