Ex-FTC Chair: Private Equity Is Hurting US Health System

The former head of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said private equity firms warrant closer White House attention.

Americans face “catastrophic consequences” for America if President Donald Trump’s antitrust team fails to properly scrutinize this sector, Lina Khan, recently resigned chair of the FTC, told the Financial Times (FT) in an interview Sunday (Jan. 26).

She noted that private equity (PE) groups posed a particular threat to the U.S. healthcare system, and that given “the stakes of our healthcare markets, it’s extraordinarily important that we are staying vigilant here.”

“If enforcers want to decide that they want to look the other way, that’s going to have, I fear, catastrophic consequences for Americans,” she added.

As for the private equity sector, Khan argued that “roll-ups” — in which companies purchase and combine several businesses in the same sector — and “strip and flip” models — where the acquired groups’ assets are sold — often leave those businesses weakened and in debt.

“I heard a flood of concern from healthcare workers, from ER doctors … about the private equity roll-ups that were resulting in worse quality care, higher prices,” Khan said.

Meanwhile, PYMNTS wrote last week about the regulatory landscape under Trump through the lens of rules governing artificial intelligence (AI).

Duane Pozza, a former Federal Trade Commission assistant director who is now a partner at law firm Wiley Rein and co-chair of its privacy, cybersecurity and data governance practice, told PYMNTS that efforts by Trump to unravel former President Joe Biden’s AI work may be easier said than done.

“Most of it is already in place,” Pozza said in an interview with PYMNTS. “So, the real question … is, ‘What does the new administration do in terms of the work that’s already started at the agencies?’ Does it try to roll them back? Does it pause them? Does it try to do different things around AI?”

Although Pozza said he believes Trump will impose fewer regulations on AI than Biden, he pointed to the first Trump administration’s executive order from 2020 that called on federal agencies to use AI for the benefit of the American people. He said the same people would be returning for Trump’s second term.