The killing of UnitedHealthcare executive Brian Thompson last December shocked the country. Yet the public reaction revealed something unsettling: a growing sentiment among some Americans that entire sectors of the economy are not merely flawed or in need of reform, but fundamentally villainous. In some corners, anger at the healthcare system had become so intense that the killing was met with indifference, sympathy—even celebration.

Those impulses are increasingly finding their way into public policy.

The proposed Corporate Crimes Against Health Care Act would impose criminal penalties on private equity investors and executives that ”contribute to a triggering event that results in the injury or death of a patient under the care of an acquired healthcare organization.”

What’s a triggering event, you ask? The bill defines the terms specifically: “A triggering event occurs if the acquired health care organization closes; is behind on rent payments for more than 90 days; defaults on a loan for more than 90 days; or is behind, at any time, on salary payments beyond specified limits.”

Essentially, if the acquired org experiences financial distress prior to the injury or death, the execs and investors could be criminally charged. 

Supporters argue that financial decisions made in corporate boardrooms can have life-or-death consequences in the doctor's office. And it is true: Health outcomes matter. But the leap from that........

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