Category: Healthcare

WRITTEN TESTIMONY ON HB 2747
Submitted by Regan Parker, CEO, Association for Responsible Healthcare Investment (ARHI)
Texas House Public Health Committee | April 2025

Members of the Committee:

Thank you for the opportunity to submit testimony regarding HB 2747.

My name is Regan Parker, and I am the CEO of the Association for Responsible Healthcare Investment (ARHI).

ARHI is a national coalition of organizations committed to strengthening healthcare through responsible private investment. Our members are deeply invested in the success of healthcare providers, the well-being of patients, and the resilience of the healthcare system as a whole.

At ARHI, we believe that when conducted responsibly, private investment can — and should — be a positive force in healthcare. Our members adhere to a set of core principles that guide all investment activity:

• Patient-centered care, ensuring that every investment expands access, improves quality, and delivers better outcomes for patients, especially in underserved and rural communities;
• Transparency and accountability, maintaining clear and ethical business practices, including governance disclosures and impacts on patient care;
• Preservation of clinical independence, safeguarding the ability of licensed healthcare professionals to make decisions in the best interests of their patients, free from inappropriate financial influence;
• Support for the healthcare workforce, including investments that promote fair compensation, training opportunities, and strategies to address burnout and shortages;
• Innovation and modernization, enabling the deployment of new technologies and care models that improve system efficiency and patient outcomes; and
• Long-term value creation, ensuring that investments strengthen the financial stability of healthcare organizations and create lasting benefits for communities.

These values reflect a commitment to building a healthcare system that is more equitable, more resilient, and more responsive to the needs of patients across Texas and the nation.

While we share the Committee’s interest in fostering a fair, competitive, and patient-centered healthcare marketplace, we must respectfully oppose HB 2747. As currently drafted, the bill would impose substantial new regulatory burdens on providers and investors without adequately targeting or fully understanding the root causes of rising healthcare costs in rural Texas.

Specifically, we are concerned that HB 2747 would:

• Impose significant compliance and reporting burdens on independent practices, physician groups, clinics, and small facilities — organizations that are often already operating on tight margins and serving high-need populations;
• Discourage investment in rural and underserved areas by creating uncertainty and new regulatory hurdles for prospective partners seeking to support healthcare expansion;
• Fail to meaningfully address the true drivers of rural healthcare costs, such as geographic monopolies and market distortions that limit patient choice and inflate prices; and
• Grant broad and undefined regulatory authority to the Attorney General’s office, without clear parameters or protections for sensitive, confidential business information, raising the risk of regulatory overreach.

Rather than achieving the intended goals of affordability and access, HB 2747 risks producing the opposite effect — making it harder for independent providers to thrive, harder for communities to attract investment, and ultimately harder for patients to access the care they need.

We respectfully urge policymakers to first understand more clearly the causes of the issues in Texas’ healthcare system, and to use those findings to create a data-driven approach to any proposed legislation. We encourage more research and dialogue to ensure that any legislation is focused on more effective, targeted strategies that directly address healthcare access and affordability challenges without imposing sweeping, costly burdens on responsible providers and innovators.

Such approaches could include:

• Promoting competition and innovation through incentive structures that reward quality and value;
• Expanding access to community-based healthcare models that bring services closer to patients in rural and underserved areas;
• Strengthening enforcement of existing laws against anti-competitive behavior, rather than layering broad new reporting requirements across the entire healthcare system.

Transparency and oversight are important tools in ensuring a healthy healthcare marketplace, but they must be deployed carefully and thoughtfully, using a data-driven approach. Oversight efforts that are too broad, too costly, or too disconnected from the real sources of cost pressures risk chilling investment, undermining innovation, and reducing patient access — particularly in the communities that can least afford it.

At ARHI, we are committed to working with policymakers to find solutions that uphold accountability while also protecting the essential pillars of access, innovation, and clinical autonomy that Texas patients and providers depend on. For these reasons, we respectfully urge the Committee to reconsider HB 2747 and to work collaboratively with healthcare stakeholders to craft more targeted, effective solutions. Texas deserves policies that strengthen its healthcare system without inadvertently creating barriers to investment, modernization, or patient-centered growth.

Thank you for your time and consideration, and for your leadership in working to improve healthcare for all Texans.

Respectfully submitted,

Regan Parker

CEO, Association for Responsible Healthcare Investment (ARHI)

Association for Responsible Healthcare Investment (ARHI) to Promote Transparency, Ethical Practices, and Patient-Centered Initiatives

Washington D.C. – A coalition of leading private capital investors in America’s healthcare system has launched the Association for Responsible Healthcare Investment (ARHI). The coalition is committed to promoting responsible private investment in healthcare that enhances patient care, strengthens the healthcare system, and upholds the highest ethical standards. ARHI will showcase the positive impact of private capital in American healthcare to policymakers, media, key stakeholders, and the broader public. The coalition aims to establish a sustainable framework for private investment in healthcare that prioritizes accountability, promotes innovation, and enhances access to care. By driving responsible practices and engaging in advocacy, the coalition seeks to strengthen the healthcare system for patients, communities, and providers.

Regan Parker will serve as ARHI’s Chief Executive Officer. She currently serves as Chief Legal and Public Affairs Officer at ShiftKey, the largest technology marketplace for independent professionals in the healthcare industry today. 

“We need a strong, unified voice that is committed to providing better care for patients, building a better healthcare system, and upholding the highest ethical standards,” said Parker. “As private capital investment is becoming an increasingly critical foundation of today’s healthcare ecosystem, policymakers are starting to take notice. Bad actors and exploitative practices must stop and cannot undermine the positive private capital investments that are a force for good, creating a healthier society and a stronger, more accessible healthcare system. Our goal is to promote the highest standards, demonstrate how responsible private capital is a vital asset to healthcare that benefits patients and communities, and establish a sustainable framework that prioritizes accountability and better access to care.”

Eric Hargan will serve as a Co-Chair of ARHI. Hargan previously served as Acting Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and on the Board of Operation Warp Speed, helping to develop the project and coordinate HHS agencies.

“As private capital investment continues to play an increasingly integral role in shaping the future of our healthcare system, it is critical that private sector leaders and policymakers work together towards high standards that deliver the best outcomes for patients,” said Hargan. “I am excited to work together with private capital investors and policymakers towards a stronger, healthier, higher quality, more innovative, and more accessible system.”

David Berman, a founding member of ARHI and Managing Partner at Lorient Capital, emphasized the importance of responsible investment in healthcare: “The healthcare investment community must take the lead in setting clear standards for ethical, transparent, and patient-focused investment. ARHI is committed to proactive governance and partnering with regulators to ensure capital is deployed responsibly by supporting innovation, expanding access, and strengthening healthcare for the long term. By holding ourselves accountable, we can be a catalyst for fixing a fragmented and inefficient healthcare system in a way that doesn’t rely on increased government spending or higher taxpayer burdens, ensuring private capital drives meaningful, lasting improvements for patients and providers alike.”

Responsible private capital investment is a critical foundation of today’s healthcare system. ARHI will showcase how private capital investments are transforming healthcare by:

• Ensuring the delivery of affordable, accessible, and sustainable health services close to home in local communities across America.
• Modernizing medical practices, allowing doctors and other healthcare professionals to remain independent from vertical integration if they wish and focused on patient care.
• Allowing centralization of ever-increasing and complex administrative, legal, and regulatory requirements to alleviate the demands placed on individual healthcare innovators, providers, and systems.
• Providing much-needed funds to advance the discovery and commercialization of new treatments and technologies to improve the health of all Americans.
• Creating patient access. Patients in countless rural and urban communities already suffer from limited availability of providers and operational facilities and would lose even more access to critical healthcare services without private capital.
• Supporting the growth of new technologies, streamlined delivery, and quality care for patients across urban, rural, and underserved communities.
• Boosting innovation. Without private capital, there would be far less funding available for research and development related to new innovative drugs and treatments.

ARHI’S Core Principles

ARHI is committed to promoting responsible private investment in healthcare that enhances patient care, strengthens the healthcare system, and upholds the highest ethical standards. These principles serve as a framework for ARHI members and demonstrate the coalition’s dedication to addressing criticism and ensuring that private investment is a force for good in healthcare. ARHI is launching on the foundation of the following core principles:

Patient-Centered Care: ARHI prioritizes patient well-being above all else. ARHI member investments enhance access, improve health outcomes, and support providers in delivering high-quality, compassionate care to all patients, especially in underserved and rural areas.

Disparities and Access: ARHI prioritizes investments that reduce health disparities and promote better access to care for all populations, regardless of socioeconomic status, geography, or other barriers.

Transparency and Accountability: ARHI is committed to transparency in ownership and operations. ARHI member investors provide clear information about governance structures, financial and management practices, and the impact of their investments on patient care and community health.

Ethical Business Practices: Private investment in healthcare should adhere to the highest ethical standards. ARHI members do not engage in exploitative practices such as unnecessary billing to payors or limiting patient care options. ARHI promotes responsible business models that align with long-term sustainability and public trust.

Independence of Clinical Decision-Making: ARHI believes physicians and healthcare providers must retain autonomy in clinical decision-making. Investments should empower providers to focus on delivering accepted standards of care, free from undue influence by financial interests.

Commitment to Workforce Development: ARHI member investments foster more positive work environments for healthcare professionals by supporting fair compensation, training opportunities, and measures to address workforce shortages and burnout.

Promotion of Innovation and Technology: ARHI member investments drive innovation in healthcare, enabling the development and deployment of transformative technologies, therapies, and care delivery models that improve patient outcomes and system efficiency.

Long-Term Value Creation: ARHI member investments create sustainable value for patients, providers, and communities. This includes support for healthcare organizations in maintaining financial stability and adapting to the evolving needs of the healthcare system.

Regulatory Compliance and Good Governance: ARHI members are in strict compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. ARHI members are committed to strong governance practices, including ethical leadership and accountability mechanisms to ensure responsible decision-making.

Collaboration with Stakeholders: ARHI believes in fostering collaboration between investors, providers, policymakers, and communities to ensure that private investment in healthcare aligns with the broader goals of a healthier, more resilient society.

For more details about ARHI, please visit: https://investinhealthcare.org/

Contact:

Regan Parker
CEO
Association for Responsible Healthcare Investment
regan@investinhealthcare.org