Corporate Physician Control, CMS ACCESS Model, Neuro Valuation, & More!

Federal Bill Targets Corporate Control of Physicians

On September 16, 2026, Democratic lawmakers introduced the Stop Corporate Takeovers of Physicians Act of 2026 in both chambers of Congress. Led by Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Jeff Merkley (D-OR), along with Representatives Val Hoyle (D-OR), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), and Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA), the bill would, for the first time, impose federal restrictions on the ownership and control of physician practices, including the management services organization (MSO) structures commonly used by private equity (PE) investors. The bill is modeled on Oregon Senate Bill (SB) 951, a 2025 law widely characterized as the most restrictive of its kind in the U.S. This Health Capital Topics article reviews the bill’s key provisions, compares them to the Oregon law on which the bill is based, and considers the proposal’s implications for physician practice arrangements. (Read more...)

CMS Expands ACCESS Model to Four New Conditions

On September 15, 2026, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it will add four clinical tracks to the Advancing Chronic Care with Effective, Scalable Solutions (ACCESS) Model, covering heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), substance use disorders, and tobacco cessation. CMS will also extend payment for chronic musculoskeletal (MSK) pain beyond the current 12-month care period. The additions come approximately 10 weeks after the model began operating and enlarge a payment experiment that makes half of participant revenue contingent on documented clinical improvement. This Health Capital Topics article reviews the expansion and the outcome-aligned payment mechanics that determine what participating organizations are ultimately paid. (Read more...)

Hospital Price Transparency Compliance Rises Under Stricter Enforcement

On September 10, 2026, PatientRightsAdvocate.org (PRA), a nonprofit price transparency advocacy organization, released its eighth Hospital Price Transparency Compliance Report, which found that 49.4% of the 2,000 hospitals it reviewed were in full compliance with the federal Hospital Price Transparency Rule (the Rule). That figure is the highest compliance rate PRA has recorded since it began tracking hospital postings in July 2021, and an increase of 28 percentage points over the 21.1% rate it reported in November 2024. It also means that 1,012 of the hospitals reviewed, slightly over half, were not in full compliance with requirements that have been in force since January 1, 2021. This Health Capital Topics article reviews the report’s findings, the regulatory changes that preceded them, and the enforcement exposure now facing noncompliant hospitals. (Read more...)

Valuation of Neurology Services:
Technological Environment

The preceding installments of this series on the valuation of neurology services examined the competitive and reimbursement environments for neurology services, as well as the federal regulatory framework governing service arrangements involving physician referrals. This final installment examines the technological environment, encompassing health information technology, telehealth as a clinical delivery platform, artificial intelligence (AI) in neurodiagnostic interpretation, and the diagnostic and therapeutic technologies reshaping the management of chronic neurological disease. (Read more...)