Thread

Bill to Ban Private Equity from Owning Medical Practices

509 points · 384 comments · paimapi

NegativeK · 1789944184 · focus · HN ↗
Can someone steelman private equity, please? I'm honestly looking for the upsides (for non-investors) of when PE moves into an industry like medicine and begins buying up businesses that traditionally aren't already large chains.
I already hear the downsides frequently from someone whose work is directly affected.
1. twoodfin · 1789944333 · focus · HN ↗
  The upside is to the folks who sold the businesses they owned.
  Should they be outlawed from selling to certain classes of investor? Which?
  1. Grombobulous · 1789944624 · focus · HN ↗
    It should be more about making certain levels of consolidation and deep erosion of local ownership illegal.
    We have run this country on an assumption that we must give businesses a high amount of freedom. An argument can be made that businesses have been given too much freedom in our system. We’ve allowed Amazon and Ticketmaster and Walmart to exist and they shouldn’t exist in their present form.
    Healthcare practices that provide necessary care shouldn’t even really be allowed to be for-profit entities if you ask me. The incentives become too perverse as a result.
    furytrader · 1789945966 · focus · HN ↗
    "We’ve allowed Amazon and Ticketmaster and Walmart to exist and they shouldn’t exist in their present form."
    Do you realize that when Walmart moves into a community, prices charged for everyday things overall drop significantly, both at Walmart and their competition, which means that poor families are able to buy more with every dollar.
    What do you have against poor people?
    ButlerianJihad · 1789946307 · focus · HN ↗
    > ["poor"] families are able to buy more with every dollar.
    <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boots_theory" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boots_theory

Open on Hacker News to reply ↗

Unofficial Hacker News client; not affiliated with Y Combinator.