State Laws Cut Private Equity Physician Deals in Half — SkimNews
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- Over a dozen states have passed laws enhancing oversight of private equity deals in health care, and a new report says that regulatory patchwork is putting a crimp in dealmaking.
- Physician practice management deals — involving businesses that run clinics' billing and operations — are on track for roughly half the number in 2026 as in 2025, according to PitchBook data.
- Deal volume in the sector plummeted from a peak of 851 transactions in 2021 to just 105 in the first half of 2026.
- Paul Pitts, a partner at Reed Smith who advises health care providers, called the decline "certainly…a big decrease."
Why it matters: For private equity firms, the physician practice acquisition pipeline has narrowed dramatically — from 851 deals in 2021 to 105 in the first half of 2026, with 2026 tracking at roughly half the pace of 2025. State-level oversight has become a material constraint on PE health care strategy, giving physicians more leverage in any future sale negotiations and shifting the balance away from the 2021 buying spree.
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