The Corporate Crimes Against Health Care Act of 2026, introduced by Senator Elizabeth Warren and other Democratic lawmakers in February, aims to hold private equity executives criminally liable for financial decisions leading to patient deaths. The bill follows incidents like the bankruptcy of Steward Health Care, where private equity ownership allegedly burdened hospitals with debt and extracted fees, resulting in service disruptions. Warren stated that "looting hospitals and nursing homes is basically a feature of private equity's playbook," and executives should face legal consequences.

Beyond criminal penalties, the bill would empower state attorneys general to claw back all compensation (salaries, fees, dividends) paid to private equity executives within a decade surrounding a period of financial distress, plus a civil penalty of up to five times the recouped amount. It also mandat