From Bloomberg Law, by Tony Pugh:
- The Biden administration finalized a rule requiring nursing homes to provide more detailed information about their ownership structure, including whether they are owned by private equity firms or real estate investment trusts (REITs).
- The additional data collected will be made public to allow families to make more informed choices about facilities and allow outside researchers to study the impact of different ownership models on quality of care.
- Previous research has found that private equity ownership is associated with higher mortality rates for Medicare patients in nursing homes and increased taxpayer costs per resident.
- The private equity industry argues that its investments help strengthen struggling nursing homes by providing capital.
- The new rule implements requirements under the Affordable Care Act to increase transparency around nursing home ownership and oversight structures.