Happy days are here, financially, for hospitals thanks to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, says Zacks Investment research in a recent blog post.
“The positive implications of these (ACA) reforms have started showing up in the financials of hospital and healthcare stocks,” Zacks says, pointing to preliminary quarterly results for HCA, which handily beat analysts' expectations.
“After all the opposition and lobbying to annul the law, the multi-year implementation of ACA is finally reflected in positive signs from healthcare providers (in the form of improved earnings), consumers (higher enrolments) and the market (wider coverage at lower healthcare spending),” Zacks notes.
Hospital earnings are being pressured by declining payment levels from Medicare, Medicaid and elsewhere, the blog notes, but in response, “hospitals like never before are keener to join forces with doctors and insurers for healthy competition and to serve their customers better, which will translate into higher admissions.”
