Abstract
The healthcare sector, traditionally driven by a commitment to patient well-being and quality of care, has increasingly been influenced by financialization, particularly through private equity investments. This Comment explores the impact of private equity on healthcare companies, especially those facing bankruptcy by highlighting how private equity’s profit-driven motives often compromise patient care and lead to financial distress for healthcare providers and companies.
Specifically, this Comment examines the historical context of healthcare as a healing profession and the ethical implications of its financialization. It then delves into the mechanics of private equity as a business model and utilizes recent case studies of private equity-backed healthcare bankruptcies, such as In re Envision Healthcare, In re Steward Healthcare System, and In re Genesis Cancer Care, to illustrate the detrimental effects that private equity ownership can have on healthcare entities. Then it provides a review of existing academic literature and state laws aimed at mitigating these negative impacts before proposing modifications to the Bankruptcy Code, particularly to the fraudulent transfer and debtor-in-possession replacement provisions, to better address the challenges posed by private equity in healthcare. This Comment also offers a non-exhaustive set of best practices for healthcare investment to avoid both bankruptcy and diminished patient quality of care.
Recommended Citation
Peyton K. Perry,
A Bankruptcy Resuscitation: Addressing Private Equity’s Role in Healthcare Insolvencies,
42
Emory Bankr. Dev. J.
315
(2026).
Available at:
https://scholarlycommons.law.emory.edu/ebdj/vol42/iss2/4