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There’s ample evidence that private equity buyouts in health care drive up costs. A new study shows quality declines, too.

Hospitals acquired by private equity saw a 25% uptick in adverse events compared with controls, according to a new study released today in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The findings add to an accumulating body of literature underscoring the harm that occurs when financial investors take over health care providers — not only hospitals, but nursing homes, hospice care, and physician practices.

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Even after adjusting their findings to be more conservative, the researchers on the JAMA study found that all of the hospital-acquired conditions they studied increased three years after a private equity acquisition compared to control hospitals. Not all of the increases were statistically significant.

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