I am announcing a new agenda that provides for stronger oversight of corporate greed.

If that courage were available, and you see it in this room in Senator Markey and Senator Warren, then we know at least where to begin to prevent other Steward like disasters and to restore patients' needs to the forefront of our…

But it should. And that is really the point here. So, I am also introducing new legislation to change that.

I have been warning about the dangers of private equity for years.

When private equity gets hold of health care providers, it is literally a matter of life and death.

Can we really have accountability of corporate greed without greater transparency in this one sector, the health care sector, that affects every family in our Country?

The Health Over Wealth Act would protect every patient and provider that private equity touches.

It is insufficient to simply replace one for-profit company with another, like Steward or Optum, without assurances.

This is a prime example of the danger of private equity. The private equity firms walk away with hundreds of millions of dollars.

I think if it were beneficial for the hospitals or beneficial for the people of the Commonwealth, we would hear about all of those elements.

This hearing is a good start, and I am grateful to Senator Markey for getting the ball rolling.

They are going to charge everybody who comes in the door more, which means either the taxpayers, the insurance companies, or private individuals, right?

I will say it bluntly, turning private equity loose in our health care system kills people.

When you remove a facility from a community, they no longer will maintain that ability to live prosperous lives.

We have failed to step up and change the law to protect the delivery of health care system in America.

We need to hold these executives accountable. We need to rein in private equity's influence over the health care system.

We need these hospitals, and we need them to be open and functioning, and functioning at a high level.

We need to put an end to that, and we can.