News Article

How Private Equity and Other Ownership Practices Harm Nursing Home Residents

January 19, 2022

Over the past several years, private equity firm ownership of nursing homes has drawn significant attention from advocates, academics, and legislators. A study released in February 2021 found that private equity ownership of nursing homes increased the short-term mortality of Medicare residents by 10%, resulting in 20,150 more deaths over a twelve-year period. Private equity nursing home owners are concerned with profit. They use complicated, but legal, economic practices to divert Medicare and Medicaid dollars away from residents care and into their own pockets. However, many of the economic practices of private equity firms are used by many nursing home operators in the United States.

This past November, at the Consumer Voice's annual conference, experts Eileen O'Grady and Ernest Tosh gave an overview of how private equity ownership of nursing homes harms residents, and also shed light on economic practices common to almost all nursing homes. These practices result in little accountability for the billions of taxpayer dollars nursing homes receive each year and result in poor care and negative outcomes for residents.

View excerpts from this presentation and to learn more about private equity and what can be done to protect nursing home residents.