The Senate Finance Committee has launched an investigation to better understand how private equity ownership is influencing the operations of Kindred at Home.
Senators in the committee penned a letter Aug. 6 to Kindred at Home's CEO, requesting information including why some care centers closed, a list of all private equity funders that have invested in Kindred at Home and the level of involvement its PE owners had in the hospice provider's management, financial and care-related decisions by its PE owners.
"We are concerned that when applied to hospice care, the private equity model of generating profit on a rapid turnaround can occur at the expense of dying patients and their families," the senators wrote. "Given Kindred at Home's history of private equity-driven growth, we are requesting additional information in order to better understand this national trend."
Health insurer Humana partnered with private equity firms TPG Capital and Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe to purchase Louisville, Ky.-based Kindred Healthcare in 2018. Kindred at Home was spun off from Kindred and turned into a separate company owned and operated by the insurer and PE investors.
In April, Humana announced plans to acquire the full ownership of Kindred at Home but said it plans to divest a stake at an attractive valuation.
Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, signed the letter.