Aug. 08--LEWISBURG -- Results of the health care debate in Congress, and the fate of the Affordable Care Act, will critically affect the financial stability of rural hospitals, such as Evangelical Community Hospital in Lewisburg, said U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, Monday morning at a meeting with hospital officials.

"When you talk about a hospital or health care system," Casey, a Pennsylvania Democrat, said, "Medicare and Medicaid are critical to that growth. Sometimes the only way a hospital can sustain itself is to make sure they have support from both programs."

He noted that Evangelical continues to grow and expand, while so many other community hospitals are closing their doors, or joining other health systems.

Evangelical Hospital CEO and president Kendra Aucker, who spent the early morning in private discussions with Casey, said, "We have been able to stay strong and independent, but remain concerned about ACA and Medicaid. We give about $1 million in charitable care a year to our region and we write off about $10 million in bad debt, so we become more concerned if more and more people cannot afford their health care."

Casey said he's concerned about any legislation that might decimate Medicaid.

"The threat to rural health care has been substantial when you consider just the Medicaid part of the debate," he said.

"What happens," Aucker explained, is if premiums get too high or if a person just drops his or her insurance, "they'll just go to the emergency room. That's why we opened an Urgent Care center, to offer the right price point to those who need immediate care, but it might not be an emergency."

For rural Pennsylvania, if the Senate's series of amendments to repeal portions of the ACA, the "skinny bill," had passed, it would have posed both a threat to jobs -- 1,800 people are employed by Evangelical Hospital -- and a threat to health care, Casey said. "We estimated at the time, that in Pennsylvania's 48 rural counties, 278,000 people had gained health care, either through Medicaid expansion or through the exchanges. We also estimated that over 151,000 would lose coverage if the Senate bill passed. We averted that for now but I'm sure that debate will continue."

Casey used Fulton County as an example of a small county that would be adversely affected by cuts in Medicaid.

"Fulton has a population of 14,000 people," he said. "More than 1,400 people got health care in the Medicaid expansion part of ACA. We have to preserve coverage for those folks, and others in counties like Union, and then work on making it more affordable in regions where premium costs are high."

Casey did not have at hand exact figures on how many Union County residents had signed up for Medicaid or the exchanges thanks to ACA but said it was in "the hundreds."

"That's why what happens in Congress is so critical," he said.

Casey is optimistic that bipartisan discussions are on the future legislative agenda. "Senator [Lamar] Alexander, chair of the Health Education Labor Pensions committee just announced jointly with Sen. Patty Murray [D-Washington state] to have hearings in September," he said. "That's important, to make sure that we can move forward on cost sharing reduction payments and any other policy or initiatives that together, Democrats, Republicans and Independents can work on.

"I'm not saying it's going to be easy," he said. "I'm not saying it will be free of conflict. But at least in the Senate, there is engagement, and that is welcome to a lot of people."

Send comments to rdandes@dailyitem.com. Follow Dandes on Twitter @rdandes.

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NEW YORK & WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
New York Life Investment Management (“NYLIM”), a global asset management firm with approximately $838 billion in assets under management, and Invictus Capital Partners (“Invictus”), a leading U.S. single-family residential credit investment manager with more than $20 billion in gross assets under management, today jointly announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement for NYLIM to acquire a majority ownership stake in Invictus.

The transaction will expand NYLIM’s approximately $304 billion global private markets platform by adding Invictus’s differentiated U.S. single-family residential credit investment capabilities and proprietary loan sourcing and operations platform, Verus Mortgage Capital. Together, they provide an integrated capability across residential mortgage sourcing, underwriting, financing, securitization and asset management. Over the last decade, Invictus has acquired more than $48 billion of residential loans and built a leading securitization franchise in the U.S. residential mortgage-backed securities market, with more than 90 completed securitizations.

The majority ownership stake in Invictus advances NYLIM’s strategy to broaden its private credit and asset-based finance capabilities and provide institutional clients, including insurers, with differentiated access to the U.S. single-family residential credit market, an asset class where scaled sourcing and securitization capabilities are difficult to replicate.

For New York Life’s General Account, the partnership will provide a significant new source of proprietary residential mortgage assets and access to Invictus’s scaled sourcing and securitization capabilities. In connection with the transaction, New York Life will also make a significant multi-year capital commitment to Invictus.

Invictus’s seasoned leadership team will remain in place, retaining a significant ownership stake in the business to ensure alignment as the business grows. The partnership will build on Invictus’s established investment approach and capabilities, while benefitting from NYLIM’s global reach, permanent capital, distribution and resources.

Naïm Abou-Jaoudé, CEO of New York Life Investment Management, said: “Invictus has built a differentiated residential credit platform combining deep investment expertise with scaled proprietary sourcing and securitization capabilities. These are difficult capabilities to replicate and highly complementary to New York Life's permanent capital and NYLIM's institutional franchise. Together, we see significant opportunity to expand our residential credit capabilities and deliver differentiated solutions to insurers and other institutional clients.”

Michael Warden, CEO of Invictus Capital Partners, said: “We are proud to partner with New York Life Investment Management. Its capital strength, global reach and long-term orientation complement the platform we have built at Invictus. We see significant opportunity in a growing U.S. single-family residential credit market, where strong fundamentals and structural inefficiencies continue to create attractive investment opportunities. Together, we are well positioned to grow the business and serve a broader range of institutional investors.”

The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

Ardea Partners LP and Colchester Partners LLC served as financial advisors, and Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal counsel to Invictus. Debevoise & Plimpton LLP served as legal counsel to New York Life.

About New York Life Investment Management

With approximately $837.6 billion* in assets under management as of June 30, 2026, New York Life Investment Management is a Pensions & Investments' Top 30 Largest Money Manager** and one of the largest active asset managers globally, with leading positions across both public and private markets. Comprised of the affiliated global asset management businesses of New York Life Insurance Company, New York Life Investment Management is committed to achieving enduring financial outcomes and building long-term partnerships across market cycles and generations. Our specialized, independent investment teams bring disciplined active management and deep expertise to help clients navigate the next era of investing.

“New York Life Investment Management” is both a service mark and the common trade name of the following investment advisers affiliated with New York Life Insurance Company: Andera Partners, Apogem Capital LLC, Ausbil Investment Management Limited, Bow River Advisers, LLC, Candriam S.C.A., Kartesia Management S.à r.l., MacKay Shields LLC, New York Life Investment Management LLC, NYL Investors LLC, and Tristan Capital Partners LLP.

*Assets under management (AUM) includes assets of the investment advisers that make up “New York Life Investment Management” as of 6/30/2026. AUM includes certain assets, such as nondiscretionary AUM, external fund selection, and overlay services, including ESG screening services, advisory consulting services, white labeling services, and model portfolio delivery services, that are not necessarily considered Regulatory Assets Under Management according to the SEC’s Form ADV. AUM is reported in USD. AUM not denominated in USD is converted at the spot rate as of 6/30/2026.

The total AUM figure for “New York Life Investment Management,” as a brand, is less than the sum of the AUM of each affiliated investment adviser in the group because it does not count AUM where the same assets can be counted by more than one affiliated investment adviser. In addition, AUM includes assets of certain, but not all, investment advisers affiliated with New York Life Insurance Company and excludes assets managed by Andera Partners and Bow River Advisers, LLC. AUM is based on estimates and is subject to change.

**New York Life Investment Management ranked 26th largest institutional investment manager in Pensions & Investments' Largest Money Managers 2026 published June 2026, based on worldwide institutional AUM as of Dec. 31, 2025. No direct or indirect compensation was paid for the creation and distribution of this ranking.

About Invictus Capital Partners

Invictus Capital Partners is a leading alternative credit asset manager specializing in U.S. single-family residential credit. Founded in 2008 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., the firm manages more than $20 billion in gross assets. Since 2015, Invictus has acquired more than $48 billion of residential loans and completed realizations totaling more than $27 billion. That scale extends to securitization: Invictus is one of the largest asset-manager issuers in the U.S. residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) market, with more than 90 completed securitizations totaling over $45 billion.

Invictus began investing in distressed RMBS during and after the global financial crisis, expanding into residential loans in 2015. The senior team brings decades of experience in residential credit investing and mortgage capital markets. Today, its single-family residential credit platform spans the full loan lifecycle, combining investment management with proprietary sourcing and operations through its affiliate, Verus Mortgage Capital. That structure gives Invictus sourcing at scale, control over credit, the ability to price at the loan level, and deep financing and securitization capabilities.

All figures as of June 30, 2026.

For more information, visit invictuscp.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260928340383/en/

Sara Guenoun

1-718-687-6259

Sara_J_Guenoun@newyorklife.com

Source: New York Life Investment Management