Business

Asm. Mia Bonta’s Bill Cracking Down on Private Equity Healthcare Deals Heads to Gov’s Desk

“AB 1415 ensures that Californians have a watchdog when it comes to the billions of dollars of private equity transactions in California’s healthcare system,” said Bonta, who chairs the Assembly Health Committee. “This bill is a crucial step to close the gaps in the Office of Health Care Affordability’s oversight abilities at a time when our constituents are demanding that we take action to protect access to affordable and high-quality care.”

Published

12 months ago

September 14, 2025

Oakland Post

Assemblymember Mia Bonta represents California’s 18th Assembly District, which covers Oakland, Alameda, and Emeryville.

By Oakland Post Staff

California is one step closer to tightening oversight of private equity and hedge fund spending in the healthcare sector as lawmakers sent Assembly Bill (AB)1415, authored by Assemblymember Mia Bonta (D-Oakland), to Gov, Gavin Newsom’s desk this week.

The measure, if signed into law, would expand the authority of the state’s Office of Health Care Affordability (OHCA), requiring private equity groups, hedge funds, and Management Services Organizations (MSOs) to notify the office of major transactions, including mergers or acquisitions involving hospitals, physician organizations, skilled nursing facilities, or other MSOs.

Created in 2022, OHCA was tasked with tackling rising health costs that continue to outpace inflation and strain working families. The office monitors healthcare spending enforces statewide cost-growth benchmarks, reviews transactions for their effect on access and equity, and promotes strategies to improve affordability and quality.

Bonta’s bill follows last year’s veto of AB 3129, a similar measure blocked by Gov. Newsom. In that veto, Newsom directed that OHCA — not other agencies –should be the lead state entity reviewing healthcare mergers and acquisitions, a role AB 1415 would now cement.

Supporters say the legislation is urgently needed as California faces rapid healthcare consolidation. Between 2019 and 2023, private equity acquisitions of healthcare providers in the state totaled $4.31 billion, representing nearly one-third of all healthcare deals. The share of community hospitals owned by larger health entities climbed from 53% in 2004 to 68% in 2022. And the percentage of physicians working in hospitals or practices owned by bigger systems grew from 29% in 2012 to 41% in 2022.

Research shows that when consolidation increases, so do prices. Critics of unchecked mergers warn that corporate takeovers often lead to service reductions, closures, and diminished community access to care.

“We all are feeling the rise in our health care prices, and one big reason is that powerful investment and private equity firms are quietly buying up hospitals, clinics, and doctors’ offices, often cutting corners to boost profits. Yet the state doesn’t have all the information needed to determine the impact of these mergers for California health care consumers,” said Katie Van Deynze, Senior Policy Advocate with Health Access California, a statewide healthcare consumer coalition.

Deynze continued, “We hope Governor Newsom signs this bill so we can have the full picture when health care mergers have the potential to harm patients or workers and drive up costs.”

If signed, AB 1415 would mark a first-of-its-kind law in California and could set a precedent nationally. Other states, including Illinois and Texas, along with Congress, are exploring similar efforts to scrutinize private equity’s growing footprint in the healthcare industry.

Bonta represents California’s 18th Assembly District, which covers Oakland, Alameda, and Emeryville. She is also the first woman of color to chair the Assembly Health Committee.

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Oakland Post: Week of September 2 – 8, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of September 2 – 8, 2026

Published

3 days ago

September 7, 2026

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

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Business

Longtime BWOPA Member Brendalyn Goodall Appointed to California Workforce Development Board

Gov. Gavin Newsom has appointed longtime Black Women Organized for Political Action (BWOPA) member Brendalynn Goodall to the California Workforce Development Board. Goodall, an Oakland resident with decades of experience in public service, has held leadership positions focused on

Published

2 weeks ago

August 30, 2026

Post News Group

Post Co-Publisher Gay Plair Cobb with Brendalynn Goodall. Courtesy photo.

By California Black Media

Gov. Gavin Newsom has appointed longtime Black Women Organized for Political Action (BWOPA) member Brendalynn Goodall to the California Workforce Development Board.

Goodall, an Oakland resident with decades of experience in public service, has held leadership positions focused on employment, aging services and assistance for underserved communities.

“Brendalynn will be a great addition to this Board,” said Gay Plair Cobb, who served as former state Assemblyman Sandre Swanson’s alternate to the California Workforce Development Board (CWDB).

“She understands that California’s non-profit organizations serve persons who have the most significant barriers to their labor market success and that the Board should help these groups navigate the complicated requirements of state funding.

“In other words, she will be a strong advocate for our most marginalized populations. Her voice is needed now, more than ever.”

CWDB works with the governor to shape workforce policies, programs and investments designed to strengthen the state’s economy. It collaborates with employers, workers, labor organizations, educational institutions, community groups and California’s 45 local workforce development boards to expand access to quality jobs and respond to regional employment needs.

According to the board, its work includes coordinating state programs and guiding investments in workforce training and development.

BWOPA California celebrated the appointment, describing Goodall as a dedicated advocate for workers, families and older adults.

“Her appointment reflects a lifetime of leadership, service, and unwavering commitment to strengthening California’s workforce and expanding opportunity for all,” the organization stated in a press release.

Goodall served as summer jobs program coordinator in the Oakland Mayor’s Office from 2012 to 2014. In that position, she helped connect young people with employment opportunities and job experience.

Before joining the Mayor’s Office, Goodall was division manager for Aging and Adult Services in the City of Oakland Human Services Department from 2002 to 2011. She previously served as senior services supervisor and program director for the city’s Department of Aging, Health and Human Services from 1990 to 2002.

Goodall is also a member of the California Commission on Aging, which advises the governor and state officials on policies and programs affecting older Californians.

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Black History

Jackie Wright Champions Bay Area Stories, Filmmakers and Cultural Institutions

As an award-winning communications professional, Wright has worked with corporations, nonprofits, government agencies, educational institutions, artists, and community organizations. In 2026, she expanded that work by launching an introductory public relations class for small businesses and nonprofits, offering practical tools for gaining visibility, shaping messages and building productive relationships with the media.

Published

2 weeks ago

August 30, 2026

Post News Group

Jackie Wright of Wright Enterprises. Photo courtesy of Wright Enterprises.

By Carla Thomas

Jackie Wright has spent more than two decades helping people, organizations and communities understand the power of a well-told story.

As founder and president of Wright Enterprises, a San Francisco-based strategic communications and public affairs firm, Wright has built a career spanning journalism, public relations, media relations, crisis communications, community engagement and multimedia storytelling.

Wright’s commitment to storytelling is also deeply personal. She wrote and co-directed the 15-minute documentary, “Love Separated in Life…Love Reunited in Honor,” which chronicles the story of her parents, Specialist Five (S5 Wyley Wright Jr. and Ouida Fay McClendon Wright. Her father, a U.S. Army helicopter crew chief, died in Vietnam in 1964 while serving as an honor guard during a visit by then-Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara. Decades later, Wright and her siblings had their father exhumed from a segregated cemetery in Jacksonville, Florida, and their mother moved from her burial place in Georgia so the couple could be reunited at Arlington National Cemetery in 2014.

The family journey later took Wright and her sister to Vietnam, where they discovered the former military compound that had been named in honor of their father and another fallen soldier. The documentary, centered on love, war, family, racial understanding, and remembrance, earned festival recognition at screenings.

“It was quite an honor to learn about my family’s history and share it on film,” said Wright.

That filmmaking experience complements Wright’s longstanding advocacy for independent cinema. She has served as a media partner and brand ambassador for Bay Area film festivals, including the San Francisco Black Film Festival, Oakland International Film Festival, and the Durban International Film Festival in South Africa.

“It’s important to help filmmakers and underrepresented stories reach broader audiences,” said Wright.

Whether promoting a neighborhood organization, championing an independent filmmaker or preserving her own family history, Wright has remained consistent. Through Wright Enterprises, she has turned communications into both a profession and a form of community service, telling stories that might otherwise go unheard.

“Our stories are an integral part of our history, and our history is not only American history, but worldwide,” she said.