Health affairs
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Sophisticated private equity investors in health services provide venture capital for early-stage companies, growth capital for mid-stage companies, and equity capital for buyouts of mid-stage and mature companies. They pursue opportunities in provider sectors that are large and have a stable reimbursement environment, such as acute care services; sectors with room to execute consolidation strategies, such as labs; alternative-site sectors, such as "storefront" medicine; and clinical services, such as behavioral health, that are subject to profitably increasing quality and lowering costs. The innovations created through private equity investments could challenge established health services organizations.
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People uninsured for any part of 2008 spend about $30 billion out of pocket and receive approximately $56 billion in uncompensated care while uninsured. Government programs finance about 75 percent of uncompensated care. ⋯ The increase represents 5 percent of current national health spending and 0.8 percent of gross domestic product. However, it is neither the cost of a specific plan nor necessarily the same as the government's costs, which could be higher, depending on plans' financing structures and the extent of crowd-out.