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Sens. Warren, Markey propose bill that would lead to prison time for 'corporate greed' in health care

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Sens. Warren, Markey propose bill that would lead to prison time for 'corporate greed' in health care

Massachusetts Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, both Democrats, introduced legislation Tuesday that would result in prison time for violators of “corporate greed” in health care.

The Corporate Crimes Against Health Care Act would also offer state attorneys general and the U.S. Justice Department more tools to go after health care executives accused of corporate exploitation for endangering patient safety and access to health care, according to a press release.

Warren delivered remarks in front of Steward’s St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Brighton, taking issue with the financial management of Steward under CEO Ralph de la Torre. In 2016, Steward sold the land where its eight Massachusetts hospitals are located to Medical Properties Trust, a real estate investment trust. The transaction resulted in the hospitals struggling with massive debt that ultimately forced Steward into bankruptcy.

“My Corporate Crimes Against Health Care Act would prevent what happened with Steward from ever happening again,” Warren said in a statement. “When private equity gets hold of health care systems, it is literally a matter of life and death, so if you drive a hospital like Steward into bankruptcy, putting patients and communities at risk, you should face real consequences.”

CALIFORNIA AGREES TO REPAY FEDS $52M IN ‘IMPROPERLY CLAIMED’ IMMIGRANT MEDICAID DISBURSEMENTS

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Sen. Warren delivered remarks in front of Steward’s St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Brighton. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

The bill would create a new criminal penalty to put executives in prison for up to six years if they loot health care entities, including nursing homes and hospitals, if the looting leads to a patient’s death.

It would authorize state attorneys general and the U.S. Justice Department to claw back all compensation, including salaries, to private equity and portfolio company executives within a 10-year period before or after an acquired health care firm experiences serious, avoidable financial difficulties due to that looting.

Additionally, the legislation would authorize an associated civil penalty of up to fives times the clawback amount and require health care providers receiving federal funding to publicly report mergers, acquisitions, changes in ownership and control and financial data, including debt and debt-to-earnings ratios.

There would also be a requirement for a Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General report to be sent to Congress detailing the “harms of corporatization” in health care.

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“What Dr. de la Torre, Cerberus Capital Management and Medical Properties Trust did to Steward-owned hospitals in Massachusetts and across the country is unforgivable,” Markey said in a statement. “They promised to improve health care, but instead traded lives and livelihoods for profit. Private equity firms and their enablers will continue to steal from America’s health care system to feed their corporate greed unless we stop them. We need guardrails now to guarantee CEO wealth doesn’t come before the public’s health.”

SUPREME COURT RULES IN FAVOR OF NATIVE AMERICAN TRIBES IN HEALTH CARE FUNDING DISPUTE WITH GOVERNMENT

Sen. Markey said there need to be guardrails to “guarantee CEO wealth doesn’t come before the public’s health.” (Photographer: Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Private Equity Stakeholder Project policy director Chris Noble said in a statement that private equity firms have “made a killing out of looting vulnerable hospitals and putting patients and healthcare systems at risk.”

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“Grounded in the common-sense idea that U.S. healthcare systems should prioritize safeguarding our long-term health over short-term profits, this legislation is a necessary and timely solution to that problem,” he said.

Massachusetts Nurses Association president Katie Murphy also praised the Corporate Crimes Against Health Care Act.

“As an organization representing frontline nurses and health professionals working in facilities owned and operated by private equity firms and other for profit  providers, we have witnessed how the commodification of health care and the strive for profit taking by these firms has undermined the safety of the patients and communities served by those facilities, and as such, we applaud and support Senator Warren’s legislation that will hold these firms accountable for their misdeeds and corporate malfeasance, to claw back those resources taken from our patients and our communities to ensure those resources go to the care of patients and not their exploitation,” Murphy said in a statement.

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New Hampshire

A Historic New Hampshire Estate Brimming With 1930s Elegance Lists for $20 Million

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A Historic New Hampshire Estate Brimming With 1930s Elegance Lists for  Million


Set above the Atlantic, Balmoral is not just a house but a fragment of another era. Built in 1930 as the summer residence of businessman and former New Hampshire governor Huntley N. Spaulding, the estate carries the quiet dignity of New England: elegant yet understated and designed to impart a sense of permanence.

The architecture reflects that stately sensibility, with a classic Colonial Revival facade that gives way to interiors scaled for both gracious entertaining and relaxed family living. And with more than 12,000 square feet over three floors (two above ground, one below), the house has six bedrooms and an equal number of bathrooms, plus four powder rooms.

The dining room is wrapped in naturalistic wallpaper.

Rob Karosis Photography for Sotheby’s International Realty

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Tour a New Hampshire Estate That Served as a Retreat for Mark Twain

A 36-foot-long entrance gallery opens to an ocean-view formal sitting room with a fireplace—one of half a dozen throughout the house—along with a spacious sunroom lined in lattice panels. Elsewhere is a fireside study painted tomato red, a walk-in wet bar, a dining room wrapped in delicate wallpaper depicting slender marsh reeds, and a wood-paneled library. Complemented by a large butler’s pantry and a built-in dining banquette, the kitchen flows into a casual dining area and family room. Off to one side is an oversized mudroom with hard-wearing brick floors and an integrated dog-washing station.

Three of the guest bedrooms have private bathrooms and two others share a compartmentalized Jack-and-Jill bath, while the primary suite occupies its own wing of the upper level, comprising a bedroom, a private sitting room, two fitted dressing rooms, and two bathrooms. Another of the home’s unique features is a walk-in closet custom-fitted as a gift-wrapping room.

Balmoral New Hampshire

Lattice wall panels add a sense of structure and refinement to the sunroom.

Rob Karosis Photography for Sotheby’s International Realty

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This Martha’s Vineyard Home Has 10 Bedrooms and 14 Bathrooms

A major reconstruction and later updates carefully reworked the home for modern living, layering in amenities like a wine cellar, a fitness space, and updated guest quarters, all without disturbing the symmetry and restraint that define its original character. The grounds offer vast carpets of emerald lawns, clipped hedging, and a four-car carriage house with a garden bath and a second-floor studio apartment for guests or staff with a full kitchen and bath.

Balmoral, priced at $20 million and available via Tony Jalbert of Tate & Foss Sotheby’s International Realty, presides over 3.1 acres within Little Boar’s Head, a small enclave in the seaside community of North Hampton that has, for over a century, attracted a particular kind of resident. This is not where celebrities or attention-seekers come to see and be seen, but rather an under-the-radar spot favored by financial power players, political figures, and low-profile multi-generational families. Homes here are often held for decades and frequently pass quietly, introduced to the market when timing, rather than necessity, dictates a change.

Click here for more photos of the historic coastal estate in New Hampshire.

Balmoral New Hampshire

Rob Karosis Photography for Sotheby’s International Realty





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New Jersey

New Jersey Devils named fit for a surprising… and expensive star forward

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New Jersey Devils named fit for a surprising… and expensive star forward


The New Jersey Devils and Vancouver Canucks are going in very different directions. Well, we hope they are going in different directions. Both teams are currently in the same spot: home. Watching the playoffs on TV. Both also ended the tenure of their GMs, although Jim Rutherford is still in the seat.

The Canucks seem like they know what the path forward is, and it involves a rebuild. Quinn Hughes was traded for a haul. Elias Pettersson has been on the trade block for two years. Everything in Vancouver is available, as long as they hit the cap floor. 

One player who is really interesting is Brock Boeser. He’s a former 40-goal scorer who hasn’t been that guy for two years. He seems very similar to Timo Meier, who is also a 40-goal scorer who has struggled to get back to 30 goals. 

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One might think that the Devils should have no interest in another player who is paid like he’s a 40-goal scorer when he’s actually a 25-goal scorer. That’s Boeser. 

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The difference is that Meier is a hard-nosed player who adds more than scoring to the lineup. Boeser isn’t a one-trick pony, but he’s also not a “lot of tricks” pony. Boeser needs to score to be effective, and he’s not scoring enough.

That’s why, one year after signing him to a seven-year deal worth a little more than $7 million per season. 

Many believe the Canucks only re-signed Boeser in a last-ditch effort to keep Quinn Hughes, but it was never going to work. Now, they are stuck with a pretty bad contract. Boeser still has some value, so many are looking at who might trade for him. 

Brock Boeser still doesn’t make sense for the New Jersey Devils

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Michael DeRosa with the Sporting News says the Devils are one of three teams that could trade for Boeser. His reasoning includes the Devils’ disappointing finish and Boeser’s possible fit on a line with Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt. 

Boeser does have a similar impact profile as Tyler Toffoli, who has been the best fit next to Hughes since he joined the league. 

However, the Devils can’t afford to pay Boeser his price, even if the Canucks retain $1 million for the life of the deal. The only way this works is if the Devils essentially sell on a lost asset. If the Devils can trade Jacob Markstrom for Boeser, maybe Sunny Mehta would consider it. 

Without a considerable trade going the other way, the Devils wouldn’t even consider trading for Boeser. This isn’t how to start the Mehta era in New Jersey.

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Pennsylvania

Target of Action News Investigation Agrees to settlement with Pennsylvania attorney general

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Target of Action News Investigation Agrees to settlement with Pennsylvania attorney general


The target of an Action News Investigation in 2022 has agreed to a settlement with the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office.

Florida-based MV Realty was accused of offering homeowners, many of whom are low-income, a few hundred bucks.

In return, the company would get exclusive rights for the opportunity to sell the properties for a 3% commission.

But many homeowners claim they were unaware there was a 40-year life to the agreement, and mortgages were placed on their homes.

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They would also be forced to pay the fee in the event they transferred properties to loved ones.

“I could’ve jumped out of the chair and did a little dance,” said Latrelle Fuller to Action News Investigative Reporter Chad Pradelli upon learning of the settlement.

We first met her in 2022 after she entered into an agreement with MV Realty for $500.

She says she was unable to get a home equity loan on her paid-off house because of MV Realty’s mortgage.

Her neighbor, Carolyn Brown, had to pay $6,000 dollars to MV Realty to get a loan on her home. She, too, entered into an agreement with MV Realty several years ago.

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“They told me that I have to do this or they would not give me the loan,” Brown says.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday called MV Realty’s actions reprehensible.

“So as a result of the settlement, all 1,300 mortgages that were entered into in Pennsylvania are going to be cancelled, ” he said in an exclusive interview earlier this week.

Action News Investigation: Real estate company accused of deceptive practices

Rosetta Loper Grant, who is selling her Oxford Circle home, signed onto the agreement offered by MV Realty. But then in May, she started second-guessing her decision.

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He says the Action News Investigation led to his office taking action by his predecessor, now-Governor Josh Shapiro. The investigative team dug through city property records to uncover the MV Realty mortgages.

He says the company will pay $645,000 in restitution under the settlement so homeowners like Brown will get their money back.

The owner of MV Realty, former reality TV personality Amanda Zachman, has not responded to requests for comment.

“I know what it’s like to work unbelievably hard for what you have and to take it in such a misleading way from consumers, especially to Target low-income communities, is disgusting to me, ” Sunday said.

If you were a victim of MV Realty and paid the company fees to sell or transfer a property, reach out to the AG’s office online.

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You can also email the complaint or call 1-800-441-2555.

Copyright © 2026 WPVI-TV. All Rights Reserved.



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