IL advances new oversight of private equity in healthcare
June 1, 2026
PESP testimony and research informed legislation addressing healthcare transactions and private equity ownership in developmental disability services
SPRINGFIELD, IL — Two major Illinois measures aimed at increasing oversight of private equity’s growing role in healthcare and disability services are headed to Gov. JB Pritzker’s desk following final legislative approval. The measures are aimed at increasing oversight of private equity’s growing role in Illinois’ healthcare industry, following years of hospital closures, financial instability, and concerns over care tied to private equity-backed providers operating in the state.
The new acts include HB5000, which strengthens oversight and transparency requirements around healthcare transactions and ownership changes, and HB4728, legislation establishing new guardrails around private equity ownership of intellectual and developmental disability (IDD) service providers.
The Private Equity Stakeholder Project (PESP) submitted testimony in support of both legislative efforts during the 2026 legislative session.
HB5000 follows growing concern in Illinois over the role private equity-backed hospital operators have played in destabilizing safety-net healthcare systems. Illinois Senate Democrats cited PESP research while advancing the legislation, pointing to the closures of Westlake Hospital, Weiss Memorial Hospital, and disruptions at West Suburban Medical Center tied to Pipeline Health.
“Health care is not a luxury to be profited off of, but a human right,” said Sen. Graciela Guzmán (D-Chicago), author of HB5000. “We have seen private equity take over portions of our economy and sell off whole industries for parts. We need to understand how much of Illinois’ health care system is controlled by private equity and how it affects both care and access to it.”
Pipeline acquired the hospitals in 2019 and employed financial strategies that weakened the facilities over time, including monetizing hospital assets. Westlake Hospital closed in 2019, Weiss Memorial Hospital shut down last year, and West Suburban Medical Center halted services earlier this year.
Illinois lawmakers also approved HB4728, legislation aimed at protecting intellectual and developmental disability services from financial practices that can destabilize providers and threaten care. PESP previously released a report documenting how private equity firms have increasingly acquired and consolidated providers serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
The report highlighted multiple Illinois examples, including Broadstep Behavioral Health, a Bain Capital-owned provider whose Illinois license to operate group homes was revoked in 2024 following repeated violations of quality standards. Between 2021 and 2023, Illinois paid Broadstep more than $23.6 million for Community Integrated Living Arrangement (CILA) services.
“Illinois lawmakers are responding to problems communities across the state have already experienced firsthand,” said Chris Noble, Policy Director at PESP. “From the collapse of Pipeline Health hospitals in the Chicago area to growing concerns around private equity-backed disability service providers, Illinois is recognizing the risks that can emerge when aggressive financial strategies enter essential care systems.”
“With these new laws, Illinois is becoming a leading example for states seeking to protect vulnerable residents and patients from the risks that can accompany private equity ownership in healthcare and disability services,” Noble added.
