Insurance gains under the healthcare reform law fueled a massive jump in Universal Health Services' second-quarter revenue, but rising expenses wiped away potentially large profit gains.
King of Prussia, Pa.-based UHS, which operates 24 acute-care hospitals and 182 behavioral health facilities, said admissions were up across the board. The higher-than-expected revenue—and nearly 29% drop in bad debt as more consumers obtained health insurance—prompted UHS to raise its full-year earnings guidance.
“We remain pleased with the underlying strength of our two businesses,” Alan Miller, CEO of UHS, said in a statement. “The reduction in uncompensated care at our acute-care hospitals resulting both from healthcare reform and improvements in the underlying economy partially reverses a trend that had been hindering our results for an extended period of time.”