OIC releases report on private equity in healthcare

OLYMPIA, Wash. — The Office of the Insurance Commissioner published a report on Monday, Jan. 12, providing a data snapshot of private equity trends and investments in Washington’s health care system (PDF 528.42KB).

Private equity investments generally refers to pooling several entities’ money and investing it in private firms. These firms often take a controlling interest in a company and manage it with the goal of increasing its value.

In Washington, private equity groups have spent $42.5 million on a total of 551 health care acquisitions since 2015, reaching a one-year high of $11.3 billion in 2023 and a high of 111 transactions in 2021.

Nationwide, private equity investors spent more than $200 billion on health care-related acquisitions in 2021 and $1 trillion in the past decade.

The report highlights data provided by contractor Pitchbook, Inc., on private equity-backed deals by health care service category, deal size and holding periods, among other information. 

The OIC released a report on Washington’s health care system in 2023, but public information on private equity investments in the state’s health care system was unavailable. National reports cite investment from private equity as a main driver in the increase of healthcare costs.