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Support for forum comes from Broadway SF, presenting Parade, the musical revival based on a true story. From three-time Tony-winning composer

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From KQED.

From KQED in San Francisco, I'm Alexis Madrigal.

Maybe you've noticed, but American healthcare is a complex public-private mess.

Over the last 10 years, a new force has emerged private equity.

Companies like Blackstone and KKR take money from pension funds and the globe's big money

and use it to make leveraged buyouts

of hundreds of healthcare companies a year.

From 2009 to 2019, they've cut deals worth $750 billion.

And many critics say they're hurting patients

and driving up healthcare costs.

And all that was before the pandemic

wreaked havoc on our hospitals, doctors, and nurses. We're going to

talk Wall Street's increasingly direct influence on the care you receive. That's next after this

news. Welcome to Forum. I'm Alexis Madrigal. Berkeley Health Economics Professor Richard Schaeffler has spent years studying the newish and growing role of private equity firms in health care.

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