Tenet, Community Health earnings will fill in Obamacare picture

Hospital giants Community Health Systems and Tenet Healthcare Corp. will report their earnings this week, rounding out the initial picture of how Obamacare's insurance expansion is affecting hospitals' bottom lines.

On May 6, Community Health, now the largest chain by hospital count since it closed its Health Management Associates deal in January, will present its first quarterly earnings report since the deal's completion. The Franklin, Tenn.-based chain said it expects a 15% cut in uncompensated patient visits this year, with a revenue boost of $95 million to $160 million.

Dallas-based Tenet, which closed its acquisition of Vanguard Health Systems in October and will report results May 5, forecast a 15% reduction in uncompensated-care volume. Tenet expects its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization to increase $50 million to $100 million for the year.

Results from hospital chains have shown mixed effects from reform. HCA saw minimal changes. But its presence is limited to four states that expanded Medicaid; in those states, it did see significant Medicaid enrollment increases.

LifePoint Hospitals, on the other hand, said reform's impact exceeded expectations for the first quarter. About 22% of self-pay patients gained Medicaid coverage and another 3% enrolled in a private plan through the Obamacare exchange. As a result, self-pay patients represented 5.4% of its volume in the quarter, compared with 7% in the same period last year.

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