Advocacy Correspondence: PA House, House Bill 1460

June 9, 2025

Honorable Members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives:

On behalf of more than 235 members statewide, The Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP) writes today on House Bill 1460, Printers No. 1821, sponsored by Representative Lisa Borowski, which is scheduled for second consideration today and a final vote before the full House of Representatives as soon as tomorrow. HAP supports A00896, A00891, and A00907 and opposes A00892.

Strong hospitals are a cornerstone of thriving communities and healthy local economies. It is the priority of HAP to ensure hospitals remain financially stable, accessible, and open to provide care to individuals and families throughout the commonwealth. HAP acknowledges the desire to add statutory guardrails around the purchase and ownership of health care entities where none exist today and where such guardrails would help preserve access to care in communities long term.

Important points to keep in mind as you consider House Bill 1460:

• Pennsylvania’s hospitals act individually and together with a myriad of partners across the health care delivery landscape to provide access to vital services communities expect and depend on.
• These partnerships preserve access and accelerate the delivery of modern and transformative health care.
• Pennsylvania should not become an outlier among states—discouraging routine transactions, joint ventures, and partnerships that aim to preserve access to health care in communities.
• Legislation must not unintentionally result in an overcorrection to the identified problem by stifling the variety of current and future business arrangements between hospitals and their partners.

To that end, HAP advocates for changes that would align with federal requirements that govern nonprofit hospital transactions. HAP supports Amendment A00896 offered by Representative Tim Twardzik which allows an increase in the threshold for a change in control, from 10 percent to 50 percent, and an increase in the dollar amount for a transaction to be considered “material,” from $10 million to $25 million. HAP also offers support for the following amendments:

• Offered by Representative Bonner (A00891), language which adds a “clear and convincing” standard to the Attorney General’s determination of a transaction considered to be “against the public interest.”
• Offered by Representative Bonner (A00907), language which allocates costs accrued during the process of investigation between each of the parties involved in the transaction.

With adoption of A00896 increasing the thresholds which would set into motion a notification filing with the Office of Attorney General, HAP will be neutral on House Bill 1460, Printer’s No. 1821. 

HAP opposes A00892, which would add non-profit hospitals to the legislation. Non-profits are already subject to the Attorney General’s Review Protocol for fundamental change transactions affecting health care nonprofits, in addition to rigorous federal oversight.

HAP is committed to remaining engaged in the process and looks forward to continuing conversations to further refine legislative language, reflective of the complexity of health care transactions, while balancing the ability for hospitals and health systems to engage in partnerships to maintain access to health care in communities across the commonwealth

Please contact me or Sarah Lawver, HAP’s senior director, state advocacy, with any questions.

Sincerely,

 

Arielle Chortanoff
Vice President, State Advocacy

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Topics: Access to Care, State Advocacy

Revision Date: 6/9/2025

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