1. United States
2. Wash.
3. Letter

I am your constituent and I want you to know that Private Equity investment firms are squeezing the life out of medical communities. Steward Health’s bankruptcy is just the latest debacle. They load facilities with debt to fund super sized dividends to investors and then force the facility to pay extra high rents. Critical functions like maternal care and cancer treatment are often removed because they are insufficiently profitable. Then after the money is squeezed out of the system they declare bankruptcy and leave communities devastated. Steward health is the latest, but this goes on all the time - ask any constituent in a rural area. YOU CAN FIX THIS AND HELP YOUR CONSTITUENTS. Get the Health Over Wealth Bill to a vote and passed. Here is what it does. Provides for HHS review before the sale can occur Establishes an escrow account with funding for 5 years of operations so communities aren’t left helpless Requires transparency about financial and management operations such as debt and executive pay, lobbying and political spending, health care costs for patients and insurance plans, and any reductions in services, wages, or benefits  Authorize the Department of Health and Human Services to revoke investment licenses from private equity firms that price gauge, understaff, or create access barriers to care  Prohibits private equity firms from stripping assets from health care entities or undermining the quality, safety, or access to health care  Closes tax loopholes for real estate investors in order to disincentivize health care entities from selling their property and then paying exorbitant rents to these investors Here is a link to the bill so you and your staff can examine it, https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/4804. Thank you in advance for protecting patients.