Private Equity's Nonprofit Joint Ventures in Behavioral Health
PESP's July 2026 report found 568 U.S. facilities, including behavioral health, run as nonprofit-PE joint ventures, with no federal disclosure required.
Matthew Sexton, LCSWRead article
system critique
Still neon
17 articles, newest publications first. Browse this subject or search the full archive.
4 articles in the wider archive have updated wording and source notes. The other 164 have not been fact-checked as part of this review. Older topics and links are retained to keep existing articles findable.
How to Find Out Who Owns Your Therapy Practice (2026)
Private equity closed 56 behavioral health deals in 2025 alone, part of a record 1,029 U.S. health care buyouts. Here is how to trace who owns your therapy practice.
Matthew Sexton, LCSWRead article
Mental Health Provider Shortage by State: 2026 Data
West Virginia, Delaware, and Arizona have the nation's worst mental health provider shortages, meeting under 11% of need (HRSA, as of December 2025). A state-by-state breakdown of where the gap is widest.
Matthew Sexton, LCSWRead article
What Happens When Private Equity Buys Your Therapy Practice
A 2023 survey of 750 behavioral health workers found 65% report bigger caseloads and 93% report burnout under rising productivity targets. Here's what that means.
Matthew Sexton, LCSWRead article
1,400 FDA-Authorized AI Devices. Zero for Mental Health.
More than 1,400 AI medical devices carry FDA authorization. Mental health has zero. The gap reveals a regulatory system still ranking behavioral health last.
Matthew Sexton, LCSWRead article
AI Mental Health Benefits: The Employer-Employee Trust Gap
83% of employers want AI running mental health benefits, but only 24% of employees use it — Prudential's 2026 data reveals a real employer-employee trust gap.
Matthew Sexton, LCSWRead article
Insurance Reimbursement Gap: 30% Less Than Private Pay
Insurance pays therapists $111 a session vs. $159 private pay, about 30% less — why therapists leave insurance panels, and why your card may not get an appointment.
Matthew Sexton, LCSWRead article
Private Equity Bought the Couch: 56 Behavioral Health Deals
Private equity firms closed 56 behavioral health deals in 2025, inside a record-value year for health care buyouts. The research since is blunt: staffing gets cut.
Matthew Sexton, LCSWRead article
Therapist Burnout & Workforce Shortage: Why They're Quitting
137 million Americans live in a mental health shortage area, and 48% of behavioral health workers have considered quitting. Here's what's driving both.
Matthew Sexton, LCSWRead article
ERISA Mental Health Parity Loophole: Lawsuit Killed the Gains
ERIC, representing Fortune 500 employers covering 25 million workers, sued to block the 2024 mental health parity rule. Enforcement is now paused indefinitely.
Matthew Sexton, LCSWRead article
Mental Health Provider Shortage Hits 137 Million Americans
137 million Americans — 40% of the country — live in a mental health provider shortage area, per HRSA, up 15 million in one year as insurers price clinicians out.
Matthew Sexton, LCSWRead article
Mental Health Parity Rollback: What Changed in 2026
EBSA's staff dropped 20% as the Trump administration suspended 2024 mental health parity enforcement, leaving 136 million workers with weaker protections in 2026.
Matthew Sexton, LCSWRead article
Private Equity Behavioral Health Is Cracking: Summit BHC's Debt
$1.1 billion in debt: Summit BHC, private equity-backed, survived a 2025 debt exchange, then S&P's outlook flipped negative in June 2026 — and it's not alone.
Matthew Sexton, LCSWRead article
Private Equity Has Now Acquired 574 Autism Therapy Centers
Researchers counted 574 autism therapy centers now owned by private equity across 42 states. Costs rise and services get cut next — here's what the research shows.
Matthew Sexton, LCSWRead article
$700M in Mental Health Funding Doesn't Close the Access Gap
HHS put $700M into 988 and CCBHCs June 17 — less than three months after DOL said it won't defend the MHPAEA rule that makes insurers actually cover care.
Matthew Sexton, LCSWRead article
Psychiatrist Shortage: A 43% Demand Surge Is Coming
A May 2026 Psychiatric Services study projects psychiatrist demand rising 43.7% while supply falls 12.3% by 2037 — a structural failure, not a hiring gap.
Matthew Sexton, LCSWRead article
Vertical Integration Is Turning Insurers Into Your Therapist
Cigna's Evernorth grew from 1,000 to more than 5,000 clinicians since 2024, targeting 15,000 by 2026 — the insurer now owns the therapist deciding your care.
Matthew Sexton, LCSWRead article