Precisely right. The corporate takeover of medicine is dangerous. Private equity firms are buying up hospitals and then illegally shutting them down to cash out. (Yes, I’ve seen this happen first hand. I’ve also read about other cases.) Another example of small local governments getting railroaded by corporations that have more money and lawyers.
How does shutting down a hospital allow a PE firm to "cash out"? Let's see some actual numbers on that, not vague claims about tax write-offs. Sometimes PE firms take on too much debt as part of acquiring a hospital and paying out a special dividend to shareholders. But if the hospital later fails due to being unable to make debt payments then the PE firm takes a loss on their remaining equity stake; they would always prefer to keep it running as a going concern so that they can sell it for an additional profit later.
There is a legitimate issue with concentrated ownership of provider organizations in some regions. More antitrust enforcement is needed to protect consumers but unfortunately that seems unlikely.
