“Steward is a prime example of private equity’s business model of extracting short-term profits from entities before selling them off,” said Robert Seifert, senior fellow at Americans for Financial Reform. “In the case of health care, this can leave critical service providers worse off financially, with more money going to Wall Street and less toward long-term viability, hospital staffing, and patient care,” he added.
“Today’s concentrated markets and behemoth banking organizations are the result of a thirty-year run of mergers and consolidation,” said Patrick Woodall, senior fellow at the Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund. “It is time for the banking regulators to stop rubber-stamping these transactions and stand up for consumers, communities, and a more stable financial system by blocking this takeover.”
“It’s very incompatible with health care, especially today with movements toward improving quality care in health care, increasing the coordination among different types of health care providers, being very focused on patients and patient needs,” said Bob Seifert, senior fellow with Americans for Financial Reform.
“The private-funds industry is trying to use its money and resources and a friendly court in order to push back on rule-making. That’s very simply what’s going on here,” said Andrew Park, senior policy analyst with Americans for Financial Reform, which supports the new SEC rules.
“The math isn’t mathing when it comes to property losses driven by climate change,” Caroline Nagy, senior policy counsel with the progressive group Americans for Financial Reform, said in an interview. “There’s a very good argument to be made that damage caused by climate change is an area where we need the government to take a role.”
“The CFPB has done its homework here,” said Carter Dougherty, a spokesman for the left-leaning Americans for Financial Reform. “Some banks have gotten rid of overdrafts entirely and the world is still spinning on its axis. If bankers can’t run a business without relying on gotcha fees, they should find a new line of work.”