The California legislature recently passed a bill requiring private equity groups and hedge funds to give written notice, and in certain cases obtain consent, before investing in the state's healthcare industry.
Seven things to know:
1. Assembly Bill 3129 would require PE groups and hedge funds to provide written notice to the California attorney general for certain investments in the state's healthcare industry beginning Jan. 1.
2. Activities covered under the bill include acquisitions or a change of control between a PE group or hedge fund and certain types of healthcare practices and facilities.
3. Notice and consent requirements vary depending on the size and type of the practice or other healthcare facility.
4. Deals requiring consent from the attorney general would include transactions with a substantial likelihood of anticompetitive effects or transactions that could significantly affect the accessibility of services in a community.
5. The bill also prohibits PE groups and hedge funds from exercising certain authority over healthcare facilities, including interfering with the professional judgment of providers.
6 Transactions with certain healthcare facilities would be excluded from the notice and consent requirements, including transactions with hospitals.
7. Governor Gavin Newsom would need to sign the bill by the end of September in order for it to become a law, the Polsinelli Law Firm law firm reported in JD Supra Sept. 4.