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Senate approves amendment shielding some healthcare ownership data from public reports
Summary
Senators adopted an amendment to House Bill 16-66 that creates a confidentiality carve‑out for ownership information collected under a new healthcare business reporting provision; sponsors said it protects small practices from predatory buyers, while critics warned it reduces transparency.
Senators on the floor on March 24 adopted an amendment to House Bill 16-66 that limits public disclosure of certain business ownership information collected under the bill. The amendment, offered by Sen. Johnson, applies confidentiality protections to ownership details in the new reporting requirements being added for health-care entities.
The amendment drew an extended debate. "We're protecting some of that in this amendment, by creating a confidentiality clause in that section on the business entity itself pertaining to this information we're collecting for this bill only," Sen. Johnson said when presenting the change. He told colleagues the intent is to avoid exposing individual practitioners and small-owner groups to hostile purchases or other predatory behavior.
Opponents raised concerns about singling out one business sector for special treatment. "We don't do this for other types of for-profit entities," said Sen. Kidora, noting precedent concerns and arguing that disclosure helps voters and markets. Sen. Gudor said the move created an awkward precedent and compared it with existing confidentiality protections for judges or corrections staff designed for safety reasons.
Sen. Young and others questioned the amendment's practical effect and scope. In response, Sen. Johnson said the confidentiality would apply only to information newly collected under the bill by the Secretary of State, the Professional Licensing Agency and the Department of Health, and would not change other public filing requirements such as those on economic interest forms.
Sen. Johnson closed by describing the amendment as an effort to improve the House bill's balance of transparency and protection for small, independent practitioners. The motion to amend passed; the amendment was adopted and the bill was ordered to engrossment.
The amendment does not eliminate reporting altogether but narrows which new data would be publicly posted, according to sponsors. The transcript indicates senators pressed for clarifications about who would see the confidential data (departments collecting it were named) and whether it would undercut existing public economic interest disclosures; sponsors said it would not.
The bill, now amended, will proceed through the legislative process; the transcript records the amendment's adoption but does not show a final floor vote on the underlying bill during the March 24 session.
