To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to prevent hospitals or skilled nursing facilities that are owned by certain firms from participating in the Medicare program.

HR7920, titled "To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to prevent hospitals or skilled nursing facilities that are owned by certain firms from participating in the Medicare program," was introduced in the House on March 12, 2026. It has been referred to the Committees on Ways and Means and Energy and Commerce. This bill directly targets private equity ownership in healthcare, aiming to exclude such facilities from the Medicare program within three years of enactment. An identical companion bill, S4085, has been introduced in the Senate, signaling a bipartisan or bicameral legislative push on this issue. This bill does not involve direct funding authorization or appropriation. Instead, it proposes a regulatory change that would cut off a major revenue stream for private equity-owned healthcare providers: Medicare reimbursement. For facilities currently owned by private equity, this would necessitate divestiture or exclusion from Medicare, creating substantial financial pressure. The mechanism is a change to eligibility criteria for Medicare participation, effectively altering the total addressable market for private equity-backed healthcare services. Structural losers under this legislation would be private equity firms with significant investments in hospitals and skilled nursing facilities, as well as the publicly traded healthcare providers that may be perceived as private equity-owned or vulnerable to similar future legislation. Companies like HCA Healthcare, Inc. ($HCA) and Universal Health Services, Inc. ($UHS), while not explicitly private equity, operate large hospital networks that could be impacted by the sentiment or future expansion of such legislation. Skilled nursing facility operators such as National HealthCare Corporation ($NHC) and The Ensign Group, Inc. ($ENSG), and healthcare REITs like Omega Healthcare Investors, Inc. ($OHI), Sabra Health Care REIT, Inc. ($SBRA), and Ventas, Inc. ($VTR) could also face headwinds due to their exposure to the skilled nursing and hospital sectors. Market data shows that over the past 30 days, HCA has declined by -9.46% to $483.92, and UHS has dropped by -7.94% to $181.33. NHC is down -2.36% to $164.13, ENSG is down -4.5% to $197.98, OHI is down -4.61% to $44.9, SBRA is down -1.5% to $19.72, and VTR is down -2.37% to $82.95. These declines coincide with the introduction of HR7920 and its Senate companion, suggesting market reaction to the potential regulatory threat. The bill is in its early stages, having only been referred to committees. Its path forward would involve committee hearings, potential markups, and votes in both the House and Senate, followed by reconciliation if differences exist, and ultimately presidential assent.