- Universal Health Services, one of the largest for-profit hospital companies in the U.S., is jumping back onto the international scene. UHS has bought Cygnet Health Care for $335 million, the King of Prussia, Pa.-based company said. Cygnet, headquartered outside London, has 15 inpatient behavioral-health hospitals and two nursing homes throughout the U.K. For UHS, it's a return to Europe. UHS had facilities in the U.K. and France earlier in its history but eventually sold them. The acquisition is attractive for UHS because the U.K. healthcare market is ripe for private investment, one Wall Street analyst noted.
Universal Health Services buys London-based Cygnet Health, and other briefs
- A federal snapshot of the U.S. economy released Friday provided no evidence that millions of newly insured Americans fueled faster growth in health spending immediately after Obamacare's first enrollment push. Health spending increased 3.8% during the second quarter compared with the same quarter a year ago, not adjusting for inflation, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. That's higher than an August estimate of 2.9%, but economists cautioned at the time that the August figure lacked crucial data and was likely too low. The estimate includes data from a survey of consumer spending published this month and is considered more accurate.
- Temple University Health System, a three-hospital academic medical center in northern Philadelphia, continues to lose money in its day-to-day operations, the result of lower-than-expected volumes and significant numbers of Medicare and Medicaid patients, the system reported recently. Temple reported a $10 million operating loss on about $1.4 billion in revenue in its fiscal 2014, ended June 30, according to unaudited financial figures. That's an improvement from fiscal 2013, when Temple recorded an $18.2 million operating loss. Excluding investment income and unrestricted philanthropy, the system lost $25.3 million in fiscal 2014. Temple, Philadelphia's largest safety net provider, holds 20% of the local market.
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