Dozens of state bills proposed addressing private equity in healthcare

State lawmakers across the country continue to consider legislation addressing private equity and other investor ownership in healthcare.

The Private Equity Stakeholder Project has updated its state healthcare policy tracker, which now documents 79 bills across 25 states addressing private equity and investor-backed ownership in healthcare. The tracker categorizes bills by policy approach and covered healthcare entities.

This update expands the tracker by adding 34 additional bills, including 16 bills introduced in ten states during January and February 2026. The update also incorporates 18 additional bills introduced in 2025 that were identified and added during this expansion of the dataset.

As documented in PESP’s 2025 State Healthcare Policy Review, policymakers across the country are increasingly examining the role of private equity and investor-backed ownership in healthcare. These concerns have been driven by issues including hospital closures, healthcare provider bankruptcies, rising costs, and the growing presence of investor-backed firms across multiple parts of the healthcare system.

The bills tracked by PESP fall into one or more of four policy approaches identified in the 2025 report:

• Transparency and reporting requirements, including disclosure of ownership structures and financial relationships.
• Approval and enforcement authority, expanding regulators’ ability to review and condition healthcare mergers, acquisitions, and ownership changes.
• Targeted prohibitions aimed at restricting private equity ownership or preventing specific practices associated with investor-owned healthcare companies (for example, certain real-estate or related-party arrangements)
• Corporate practice of medicine enforcement, strengthening restrictions on investor influence over clinical decision-making

These proposals apply to a wide range of healthcare providers, including hospitals, physician practices, nursing homes, behavioral health providers, and other outpatient healthcare services.

PESP’s tracker provides a state-by-state overview of these legislative efforts, including bill sponsors, policy categories, and covered healthcare entities. The tracker will continue to be updated as legislation moves through state legislative sessions in 2026.