Failure to appear is cowardice.

Failure to appear is cowardice.

I think--what we have got on our hands right now is something that is only going to grow as the years go by.

Private equity should not be allowed to loot one business after another, and I have introduced the most comprehensive bill to overhaul the private equity industry.

We need a health care system for everyone, supported by Medicare for all and the Green New Deal.

They kept the State of Massachusetts in the dark. They refused to provide the information necessary for the state to be able to make a determination as to the financial condition of Steward.

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

Yes. And I think that no resounds throughout the room in terms of this balance of power at the corporate boards.

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

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

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

Thank you, Senator Markey, for stepping up to champion the state-based Universal Health Care Act, SBUHCA.

Throughout your career, you have worked to make government serve the common good.

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

We should forbid the typical private equity approach of loading health care organizations with debt, extracting capital, and leaving stripped down organizations in bankruptcy or worse.

Federal and state regulators should think once and think twice, and think three times, before they let another corporate investor suck more money out of the Steward system.

Failure is not an option. We have to fix the system.

The potential collapse of Steward Healthcare threatens access to health care for communities all across our Commonwealth.