On September 16, 2026, the introduction of the Stop Corporate Takeovers of Physicians Act of 2026 added to the national policy discussion surrounding physician autonomy, corporate consolidation, and the future structure of medical practice. The proposed legislation would establish federal restrictions on nonphysician control of physician practices, including through private equity firms, insurers, management services organizations (MSOs), and contractual arrangements that may influence clinical or operational authority.

 

For Arizona physicians, this discussion is particularly relevant to clinical autonomy, private-practice sustainability, workforce capacity, patient access, and quality of care. The legislation addresses corporate influence over functions such as physician hiring and termination, scheduling, compensation, contracting, billing, revenue allocation, and clinical decision-making.

 

From the perspective of the Maricopa County Medical Society (MCMS), protecting physician autonomy includes protecting the ability of physicians to own, lead, and sustainably operate their practices. Administrative and corporate partnerships can provide valuable capital, technology, infrastructure, and operational support; however, those relationships should not displace physician authority over clinical decisions or undermine the long-term viability of physician-led practices.

 

Private practice is a critical component of Arizona’s health care and economic infrastructure. Independent physician practices expand community-based access to primary and specialty care, preserve continuity in physician-patient relationships, support physician entrepreneurship, and allow physicians to remain directly engaged in the governance of their practices.

 

Protecting the sustainability of private practice is therefore about more than preserving a business model. It is about maintaining health care capacity, accessible care, continuity, physician autonomy, and economic opportunity within Arizona communities. Physician-owned practices are also small businesses that employ physicians, nurses, medical assistants, administrators, and other health care professionals while generating economic activity through payroll, business operations, professional services, and local spending.

 

Sustainable private practices can contribute to job creation, local economic development, and state and local tax revenues, while keeping health care investment within the communities where physicians practice. When physicians retain ownership and control, they also have opportunities to reinvest in their practices, expand services, hire additional staff, adopt technology, and respond to the needs of their communities.

 

The national trend warrants attention. According to the American Medical Association’s Physician Practice Benchmark Survey, the proportion of physicians working in private practices declined from 60.1% in 2012 to 42.2% in 2024, while the proportion working in hospital-owned practices increased from 23.4% to 34.5%. In 2024, 6.5% of physicians reported working in private-equity-owned practices.

 

The AMA identifies payment pressures, access to costly resources, and regulatory and administrative burdens among factors associated with physicians selling their practices. For Arizona, understanding this transition requires Arizona-specific data on independent, hospital-owned, and private-equity-affiliated practices, including where independent practices serve rural, underserved, and community-based populations.

 

Such data would help policymakers and health care stakeholders better understand how changes in practice ownership may affect patient access, continuity, quality of care, workforce capacity, employment, and Arizona’s economy.

 

A diverse practice environment including independent private practices, physician-led organizations, hospitals, academic medicine, and appropriately structured partnerships strengthens the health care ecosystem. Preserving viable physician-led practices helps ensure that Arizona retains not only local access to care, but also locally owned businesses, jobs, investment, and economic activity.

 

For MCMS, the issue is fundamentally about ensuring that physicians have the authority and resources to deliver timely, high-quality, patient-centered care. The organizational structure surrounding a physician should support the delivery of care rather than create inappropriate interference with clinical judgment.

 

As reimbursement pressures, administrative requirements, workforce challenges, technology adoption, and consolidation continue to reshape medicine, maintaining physician governance becomes increasingly important.

 

The central policy question is not simply whether a physician practice has a corporate affiliation. It is who retains authority over the practice of medicine and whether physicians have control over the decisions that affect their patients, practices, and professional responsibilities.

 

A sustainable private-practice sector also supports physician choice and creates opportunities for physicians to remain practice owners rather than having ownership and governance increasingly concentrated in larger organizations. Maintaining that diversity can contribute to a more resilient health care system and help preserve access, continuity, and physician-led care.

 

Founded in 1892, MCMS has a longstanding responsibility to represent physicians across practice settings and advocate for a health care environment in which physicians can practice medicine with professional independence and accountability.

 

Physician autonomy is not simply a professional interest. It is closely connected to patient-centered care, continuity, access, quality, and a sustainable physician workforce. Protecting private practice means protecting one of the pathways through which physicians can maintain direct responsibility for their practices and the communities they serve.

 

The Stop Corporate Takeovers of Physicians Act provides an opportunity for Arizona physicians and health care stakeholders to examine how ownership structures and administrative relationships may affect physician governance and the delivery of care.

 

Regardless of organizational model, the guiding principle should remain clear: health care organizations should support physicians in delivering care and not supplant the physician's clinical authority.

 

For Arizona medicine to remain resilient, physicians need the ability to practice, lead, and build sustainable practices while maintaining the professional independence necessary to serve their patients. Protecting physician-led private practice is ultimately about protecting the infrastructure that allows physicians to provide accessible, continuous, high-quality care to Arizona communities.

 

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Please click here to review the full text of the Stop Corporate Takeovers of Physicians Act of 2026.