House bans hospital ownership by entities from China, Russia and North Korea; private-equity and meat-packing amendments fail

The House approved Senate File 572, a bill prohibiting entities from the People’s Republic of China, the Russian Federation and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea from establishing, conducting or maintaining hospitals or health-care facilities in the state. Representative Wills introduced the bill; the clerk read the measure before a recorded vote that resulted in 90 ayes, 0 noes, 10 absent.

During consideration, the clerk called multiple amendments. Representative Turek offered Amendment H8251 to ban private-equity firms and REITs from acquiring future hospitals and nursing homes, citing numerous statistics he attributed to national reports and cases (closures, increased infections, staffing and financial-extraction claims). "Private equity in health care only leads to neglect and worse patient outcomes, all while costing the taxpayer more," Turek said. Representative Wills and others questioned whether the amendment would leave financially struggling facilities without options and raised concerns about germaneness and job losses; a motion to suspend the rules to consider H8251 failed on a roll-call, 28 ayes to 62 noes with 10 absent.

Representative Scholten offered Amendment H8249 to add meat-packing facilities to the prohibition; he cited Smithfield and argued the change would keep money in the state. Representative Wills noted federal licensing constraints and warned of job losses; the House again failed to suspend the rules to consider the amendment (28–62–10). With amendments disposed, the House moved the bill for final passage, agreed to the title, and ordered the bill messaged to the Senate.

The transcript records multiple statistical claims and policy arguments in support of the private-equity ban; those claims were presented by lawmakers and not verified on the House floor.