09/20/2024
This is something I've been warning my customers about for a very long time - Pet Owners, Please read:
Warren, Blumenthal Slam Private Equity Company for Consolidating Veterinary Care, Raising Costs for Pet Owners
”(P)rivate equity firms … have spent billions on buying up veterinary practices and profiteering while reducing quality of care, increasing prices for pet owners, and making working conditions even harder for veterinarians.”
Text of Letter (PDF)
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) sent a letter to JAB Holding Company (JAB), one of the private equity firms that has spent billions on buying up veterinary practices and then looting the profits while reducing quality of care, increasing prices for pet owners, and making working conditions even harder for veterinarians.
“Given that more than two-thirds of U.S. households own a pet, corporate consolidation of veterinary care and an accompanying rise in prices represents a major issue for American consumers and a life and death issue for their pets,” wrote the senators.
Over the past decade, private equity firms like JAB have launched a large-scale effort to buy up small veterinary practices and consolidate them under the ownership of larger corporations. JAB, in particular, has received significant regulatory scrutiny for the scale and speed with which it has acquired veterinary practices and other pet-related companies. The FTC has twice ordered JAB to divest clinics in concentrated regional markets.
“Private equity rollups of veterinary practices harm veterinarians and customers alike,” wrote the senators.
Veterinarians at private equity-owned practices have reported being overworked and pressured to upsell patients on expensive tests and procedures. At some practices, corporate managers require clinicians to meet demanding quotas for certain procedures, tying their income to the amount of revenue that they generate.
Private equity firms have also raised the cost of veterinary services, exploiting consumers’ love for their pets to make a profit. Since 2014, prices for veterinary services have risen by 60%, with prices well over $300 per visit.
“The increasing cost of pet care is making pet ownership unaffordable for too many Americans,” wrote the senators.
