As a Republican and admitted ideologue when it comes to assigning blame to “big government” and “regulatory overreach” for many of the nation’s ills, Axios points out today that, “Private equity firms don’t just own physician firms and air ambulances that would be most affected by eradicating surprise bills. They also hold stakes in the companies that help health insurers determine what they should pay for out-of-network care.”
Private equity has its footprint all throughout health care, and these financial firms, especially, have a lot on the line in Congress.
Seven major companies — CareCentrix, MedRisk, MultiPlan, naviHealth, One Call, Paradigm and Zelis — are hired by insurers to handle “health care cost containment,” which includes things like bill editing and renegotiating out-of-network claims, according to Moody’s Investors Service. Private equity owns a slice of each, and Moody’s anticipates the aggregate annual revenue of these companies will reach $8 billion by 2020.
Being an ideologue is simple. But it doesn’t mean you’re always right.
Health costs are driven by a complex set of shifting variables and interests that defy the simplistic political shibboleths of the 1980s and 90’s — still en vogue through much of the GOP.
This is also a factor in the growing fragmentation of the Republican Party — not just since Trump, but since the Tea Party movement gained steam a decade ago.