ArticleJAMA health forum2026
Private Equity-Acquired Residential Treatment Facilities vs Other For-Profit Facilities.
Article in JAMA health forum, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- The development of a patient-reported outcome measuring opioid use disorder financial toxicity: Establishing content validity and reliability.Drug and alcohol dependence reports · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Importance: Amid an ongoing addiction crisis, private equity (PE) firms have acquired large numbers of residential substance use disorder (SUD) treatment facilities in the US. How PE ownership affects SUD care prices and facility characteristics is not well understood. Objective: To evaluate prices and facility characteristics of residential substance use treatment facilities owned by PE firms compared with other for-profit facilities. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cross-sectional study using a secret shopper framework was conducted from June 2024 to April 2025. PE-acquired residential SUD treatment facilities were matched to non-PE-acquired, for-profit control facilities by geographic proximity. Trained callers posed as individuals seeking residential SUD care for a family member with pending Medicaid insurance. Exposures: Ownership by PE vs non-PE for-profit entities. Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcome was daily rate. Secondary outcomes included bed availability and wait times, admission requirements, services, staffing, amenities, and facility-initiated contact. Results: This study included 341 residential facilities with completed call data (127 PE-acquired, 214 geographically matched non-PE for-profit). Mean (SD) daily rates were 15.6% higher at PE facilities ($910.73 [$463.16]; median, $854.29 [IQR, $589.29-$1071.43]) compared with non-PE facilities ($779.87 [$501.92]; median, $750.56 [IQR, $480.64-$952.38]; Benjamini-Hochberg-adjusted P = .04). This significantly higher daily rate was also found after adjustment for geographic cluster-matched fixed effects (β = $127.73; 95% CI, $29.57-$225.87; adjusted P = .03). Compared with non-PE-acquired control facilities, PE-acquired facilities were less likely to offer detox services (74.8% vs 88.8%; adjusted P = .02) and private rooms (12.1% vs 25.7%; adjusted P = .02), and more likely to make postcall contact attempts (mean [SD], 0.68 [1.39] vs 0.18 [0.47]; adjusted P < .001). Conclusions and Relevance: In this national secret shopper study, PE-acquired residential SUD treatment facilities reported higher daily prices than geographically matched non-PE for-profit facilities. Price differences persisted after accounting for local market factors, suggesting systematic cost differences associated with ownership structure. This study provides facility-level evidence on pricing differences by ownership type in residential SUD treatment and highlights the need for further research to understand the mechanisms underlying these differences and their implications for patients and payers.
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Registered trials
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