U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and a group of Democratic lawmakers have introduced legislation designed to keep control of medical practices in the hands of doctors rather than private equity firms, insurance companies, and other for-profit corporations.
“Patients want to know that decisions about their health are being made by their doctors, not by Wall Street investors,” Warren said. “If we’re going to lower costs and un-rig the health care system, we need to stop the corporate takeover of medicine.”
BREAKING: Today, I’m introducing a bill to BAN corporate takeovers of your doctor’s office.
Doctors should be able to care for their patients without greedy private equity investors getting in the way.
Let’s get this done. pic.twitter.com/e3gdamIotQ
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) September 16, 2026
More than 30 states already prohibit or restrict corporations from owning medical practices. But the laws vary, and companies can sometimes get around them through an arrangement known as the “friendly physician” model.
Under that arrangement, a licensed doctor owns the practice — on paper — while a management services organization controls much of the business by managing day-to-day operations including staffing, work schedules, insurance claims, compensation, and billing.
[NOTE: Management services organizations can provide legitimate administrative support to medical practices. Warren’s bill targets agreements that give an outside company virtual control of a practice that is technically owned by a physician.]
The Stop Corporate Takeovers of Physicians Act would establish a federal prohibition against private equity funds, insurance companies, and other for-profit corporations owning or controlling medical practices.
It would also close the “friendly physician” loophole, barring management companies from using contracts or a “captive” physician to exercise the powers normally associated with ownership.
The legislation would also prohibit noncompete, nondisclosure, and non-disparagement provisions that can restrict doctors after they leave a corporate-owned or managed practice — eliminating one method of “capturing” a physician.
Warren introduced the Senate bill with Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR). Representatives Val Hoyle (D-OR), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), and Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA) introduced a House version.
“Across the country, private equity firms and corporate conglomerates are buying up American physician offices,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “To increase shareholder profits, these entities often cut corners, leading to patients paying more for significantly worse care.”
[NOTE: The American Investment Council, which represents private equity firms, says private investment provides medical practices with capital for technology, services, and administrative support, according to The Wall Street Journal.]
According to Warren’s office, more than 80% of doctors in the United States are employed by corporate entities, up from 62% in 2019.
[NOTE: That category includes not just private equity-owned businesses but hospitals, health systems, and insurance companies — which themselves can also be part of a private equity portfolio.]
The proposal is modeled on a law restricting the corporate practice of medicine in Oregon, where in 2026 the physician-owned group Eugene Emergency Physicians successfully opposed an effort by PeaceHealth to replace its doctors with a private equity-backed staffing company.
That success helped inspire the federal legislation, according to Oregon House Majority Leader Ben Bowman, who sponsored the state law. “Oregon has shown that it’s possible to stand up to corporate profiteering in healthcare and win,” Bowman said. “Now it’s time to take that fight nationwide.”