Washington, DC – September 10, 2025 – Pennsylvania State Senator Amanda M. Cappelletti (D-17 Montgomery/Delaware) joined the U.S. House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Democrats for a roundtable discussion, “Profit Over Quality: Examining the Effects of Private Equity on Veteran Healthcare” on Tuesday, September 9.
The committee hosted Sen. Cappelletti and more than a dozen other public policy and public health experts from across the country in response to the Republican administration in Washington’s continued efforts to gut programs and services that provide healthcare for U.S. veterans and civilians. The conversation focused on profit-driven healthcare’s impact on the quality of care veterans receive, and how private equity ownership of Community Care Network facilities impacts healthcare quality and accessibility.
“Unfortunately, far too many of our communities are being devastated by the harmful impacts of private equity in healthcare,” Sen. Cappelletti said during the roundtable discussion. “These corporate interests prioritize profits over patients, leading to hospital closures, reduced services, and diminished access to care — especially in underserved and rural areas.”
During the conversation, Sen. Cappelletti homed in on the devastating closure of the Crozer Health System after Prospect Medical Holdings acquired the network in 2016. After nine years of financial turmoil the private equity firm imposed on Crozer, Crozer Hospital ultimately closed in May 2025, leaving thousands of residents stranded without access to local medical services.
“While the closure of the Crozer Health System was a high-profile, devastating example of private equity’s ability and outright willingness to destroy local healthcare systems, this is only one example of a disturbing pattern we are seeing nationwide,” Sen. Cappelletti said.
In response to private equity’s growing negative impact on healthcare systems in the Commonwealth, Sen. Cappelletti is working with her colleagues in the Pennsylvania State Senate Democratic Caucus on a legislative package that would provide a sustainable solution and implement necessary safeguards to protect Pennsylvanians’ access to care.
Senate Bills 320, 321, and 322 would, respectively:
- Prevent for-profit entities from owning or managing a hospital or health system in Pennsylvania,
- Set minimum standards regarding notification and severance payments for mass layoffs, and
- Create oversight through the office of the Attorney General.
Senate Bills 320 and 321 are currently awaiting a vote in Republican-controlled Senate committees. The House version of Senate Bill 322 – House Bill 1460 – passed the Pennsylvania House and gained bipartisan support from both chambers. It is currently awaiting a vote in the Senate Institutional Sustainability & Innovation Committee.
“We know if these bills become law, we will have the tools needed to prevent more hospital closures, and ensure Pennsylvanians can access the critical care they not only need, but have every right to receive,” Sen. Cappelletti said. “Because a healthcare system that prioritizes patients over the interests of private equity is the foundation to a healthy community, and I’m going to do everything in my power to make healthy communities the reality for every Pennsylvanian.”
The full roundtable discussion is available on the U.S. House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Democrats YouTube channel.
The full list of panelists at the roundtable discussion includes:
- Rohit Chopra, Former Director, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Former Commissioner, Federal Trade Commission
- Dr. Jose Francisco Figueroa, MD, Associate Professor of Health Policy and Management at Harvard University T.H. Chan School of Public Health
- Dr. Thomas Tsai, MD, Associate Professor of Health Policy and Management at Harvard University T.H. Chan School of Public Health
- Dr. Joseph Dov Bruch, PhD, Assistant Professor of Public Health Sciences at University of Chicago Division of Biological Sciences
- Dr. Atul Gupta, PhD, Dorinda and Mark Winkelman Distinguished Faculty Scholar and Assistant Professor of Health Care Management at University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business
- Erin Fuse Brown, JD, MPH, Professor of Health Services, Policy, and Practice at Brown University School of Public Health
- Dr. Yashaswini Singh, PhD, Assistant Professor of Health Services, Policy, and Practice at Brown University School of Public Health
- Dr. David Meyers, PhD, MPH, Associate Professor of Health Services, Policy, and Practice at Brown University School of Public Health
- Senator Amanda Cappelletti, JD, MPH, Pennsylvania State Senate
- Edward Kang, JD, Managing Member at Kang Haggerty Law Firm
- Kandis Kovalsky, JD, Member at Kang Haggerty Law Firm
- Chris Noble, Policy Director at Private Equity Stakeholder Project
- Judith Garber, Senior Policy Analyst at Lown Institute
- Jacklyn DeMar, JD, President & CEO at the Anti-Fraud Coalition
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