August 07, 2024

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.

The senators called on JAB to provide information about its veterinary practices and how it operates. They also urged the FTC and Congress to take stronger action against consolidation in the veterinary care industry, including by passing the Stop Wall Street Looting Act.

Senator Warren has long fought to crack down on corporate consolidation that threatens consumers and raises prices: 

  • In July 2024, Senators Warren, Klobuchar, Murphy, Sanders, Booker, and Blumenthal wrote a letter to the Department of Justice and Federal Communications Commission, urging them to scrutinize T-Mobile’s proposed acquisition of UScellular.
  • In July 2024, Senator Warren and Representatives Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) and John Garamendi (D-Calif.) urged the Department of Defense (DoD), FTC, and DOJ to review TransDigm Group Inc.’s acquisitions of two specialized aerospace contractors to prevent price gouging.
  • In June 2024, Senator Warren wrote to DOJ, FTC, and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), calling out high health care costs due to vertically-integrated insurers, private equity companies, and pharmaceutical companies that are driving health care consolidation.
  • In June 2024, Senators Warren and Markey (D-Mass.) introduced the Corporate Crimes Against Health Care Act of 2024 to root out corporate greed and private equity abuse in the health care system.
  • In May 2024, chairing a hearing of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee Subcommittee on Economic Policy, Senator Warren highlighted the impact of concentration in the food industry and its impact on prices, product, and consumer choice.
  • In May 2024, Senator Warren and Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) introduced the bipartisan Airport Gate Competition Act, which would increase competition in the airline industry and lower prices for consumers by increasing the number of common use gates in airports.
  • In March 2024, Senator Warren and Representative Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Penn.) led a group of 14 lawmakers in urging the FTC to revive enforcement of the Robinson Patman Act, a critical tool to promote fair competition in the food industry.
  • In March 2024, Senators Warren and Klobuchar led 26 lawmakers in urging the leadership of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees urging them to strike parts of the Commerce, Science, and Justice (CJS) appropriations bill that undercut DOJ’s ability to block anticompetitive mergers.
  • In February 2024, Senator Warren urged FTC to closely scrutinize Choice Hotels’ attempted hostile takeover of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, which would further consolidate the hotel market and create the largest branded hotel chain in the United States.
  • In February 2024, Senator Warren delivered the keynote address at RemedyFest, where she called out Big Tech for their anti-competitive tactics that have led to market consolidation and record profits.
  • In February 2024, Senator Warren and 12 other lawmakers called on regulators to block the Capital One-Discover Merger.
  • In December 2023, Senator Warren led 6 senators in a letter to Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu, calling on OCC to allow states to move forward with their efforts to protect consumers from harmful bank practices. The senators criticized the OCC for overstepping its preemption authority under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which the agency is abusing to block tough, state-level consumer protections.
  • In November 2023, Senators Warren and Blumenthal called out U.S. Anesthesia Partners’ (USAP) monopolistic business model and use of restrictive non-compete agreements that have reduced patients’ quality of care, increased prices, and suppressed workers’ wages.
  • In October 2023, Senator Warren and Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) urged DOJ and FTC to carefully scrutinize UnitedHealth Group’s pending acquisition of Amedisys; and urged the agencies to scrutinize similar deals, reject behavioral or structural remedies, and oppose any health care acquisition that would threaten competition, increase prices, and reduce quality of care.
  • In September 2023, Senator Warren and Representative Becca Balint (D-Vt.), along with a bicameral group of lawmakers, submitted a public comment to the FTC and DOJ in support of the agencies’ proposed merger guidelines, endorsing the agencies’ reading of antitrust law, praising the guidelines as necessary to prevent harm to workers, consumers, and small businesses.
  • In August 2023, chairing a hearing of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee Subcommittee on Economic Policy, Senator Warren highlighted the need for regulators to implement the strongest version of bank merger review guidelines in order to ensure stability in the financial system. 
  • In June 2023, Senator Warren sent a letter to Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter, Federal Deposit Investment Corporation (FDIC) Chairman Gruenberg, Acting Comptroller of the Currency Hsu, Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr, and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, urging regulators to promote greater competition in the banking sector by toughening their stances on bank mergers and strengthening bank merger review guidelines.
  • In May 2023, at a hearing of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, Senator Warren questioned Acting Comptroller Hsu on his decision to approve JPMorgan Chase’s purchase of First Republic Bank after its collapse. This merger allowed a large, poorly supervised bank to be swallowed by America’s largest bank, making it $200 billion larger than it was before.

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