State disclosure laws are slowing private equity's healthcare buyouts

According to the piece, a Pitchbook analysis finds private equity's healthcare acquisitions are on pace to fall by nearly half this year, concentrated in physician-practice management companies that handle scheduling and billing. The reporting ties the slowdown to at least 25 states that have passed or proposed laws adding scrutiny to healthcare mergers, requiring more documentation, restricting non-physician control of medical practices, or, in Connecticut's case, adding oversight specifically for private-equity-owned nursing homes. For officials weighing similar rules, the piece notes the laws work less by blocking deals outright than by making mergers slower and costlier, discouraging the roll-up strategy private equity has relied on across the health sector.