When you're flat on your back, headed in for surgery, and about to go under the knife,

the last thing you want to have to think about before losing consciousness is,

oh, I wonder if my anesthesiologist's practice is owned by a private equity company that's now functioning as a virtual monopoly that might significantly inflate the cost of the care I'm about to receive.

Am I right? Like you really don't want to have to worry about that. But if you live in Texas,

I wouldn't blame you if you did. There's a company called U.S. Aniseia Partners. They are the largest

anesthesia provider in Texas. And Wells Carson is the private equity firm that

started USAP.

Julian Gill is a medical reporter for the Houston Chronicle and he's telling us the story of Welsh, Carson, Anderson, and Stowe, a New York-based private equity firm.

Founded in 1979, the firm has raised 31 billion dollars in capital so far.

Welsh Carson says, quote,

we build market-leading companies in healthcare care and technology."

They've invested in more than 100 health care companies saying they can add value, quote,

to the system by reducing costs and improving the quality of care."

They created U.S. anesthesia partners in 2012 and have had a major impact on

anesthesia care in Texas.

There are major players in Texas involved in U.S. anesthesia partners, namely the president

of the Texas Medical Board, a state Representative, and formerly involved with USAP is the Vice

Chancellor for Health Affairs at a major university system here, who is also a former

lawmaker, and they were recently sued by the Federal Trade Commission

for using aggressive business strategies to monopolize the market.

U.S. Anastasia Partners has acquired more than a dozen smaller anesthesia practices in Texas.

When it filed suit last year, the Federal Trade Commission claimed that no other rival comes close to matching USAP's size.

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