Private equity-owned healthcare entities are putting “profits over patients,” leading to negative consequences for hospitals across the country, leaders of the Senate Budget Committee contended in a newly-released bipartisan report.

A U.S. Senate committee accused private-equity healthcare investors of choosing profits over patient care, adding a prominent voice to those claiming Wall Street is putting the medical system at risk.

The Senate investigation of Apollo Global Management's purchase of Lifepoint Healthcare and Leonard Green & Partners' purchase of Prospect Medical Holdings reinforced the findings of past research.

Private equity's medical adventure has taken another detour to the ER, with the Senate Budget Committee releasing a bipartisan report that slams the industry's stewardship of hospital chains. Why it matters: This caps off a year in which federal politicians zeroed in on private equity ownership of health-care providers,

A bipartisan Congressional investigation found that private equity-backed U.S. hospital systems deteriorated in patient care as their owners profited. The inquiry focused on Apollo Global Management's Lifepoint Healthcare and Leonard Green & Partners' Prospect Medical Holdings.

Private equity investments in healthcare may harm patients, providers and hospitals, according to a new report released by Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse, the Rhode Island Democrat who chaired the Senate Budget Committee in the 118th Congress,