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New Jersey Lawmakers Want More Transparency in For-Profit Hospital Acquisitions

A panel of New Jersey lawmakers has vowed to introduce legislation that would require the state health department and attorney general's office to examine for-profit companies' acquisitions of hospitals more aggressively, according to a Star-Ledger report.

Several state committees met yesterday, questioning consumer advocates, labor leaders and insurance lobbyists on the effects for-profit buyers are having on the healthcare industry in New Jersey. Sens. Joseph Vitale (D) and Robert Gordon (D) said they would propose legislation that would require more financial disclosure by investor-owned, private hospitals, according to the report.

This is the second time in the past year New Jersey legislators have attempted to shine more light on for-profit hospitals. Last August, New Jersey Republican Gov. Chris Christie vetoed a Senate bill that would have required for-profit hospitals in the state to disclose their financial records publicly on the state Department of Health website.

Several New Jersey hospitals are currently undergoing due process for a sale to for-profit operator Prime Healthcare Services, based in Ontario, Calif. Those are Saint Michael's Medical Center in Newark, Saint Mary's Hospital in Passaic and Saint Clare's Health System, which includes hospitals in Denville, Dover and Boonton.

Recently, a New York Times analysis found for-profit Bayonne (N.J.) Medical Center to be the most expensive hospital in the country. The facility is owned by for-profit operator Hudson Holdco, now called CarePoint Health. That operator also owns Hoboken (N.J.) University Medical Center and Christ Hospital in Jersey City.

More Articles on Hospital Acquisitions:

9 Recent Hospital Mergers and Acquisitions
7 Common Reasons for Hospital Transactions
Prime Healthcare Buys Assets of CHI's Saint Clare's Health in New Jersey

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