Category Archives: Net Income

Providence’s operating loss grows to $934M as it shrinks leadership team

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Providence, a 51-hospital system, ended the first six months of this year with an operating loss, according to financial documents released Aug. 15. 

For the six months ended June 30, the health system reported revenue of $12.7 billion, up 2 percent year over year on a pro forma basis. The pro forma results exclude the operations of Newport Beach, Calif.-based Hoag Hospital. Providence and Hoag ended their affiliation in January. 

Providence’s expenses also increased. For the six months ended June 30, the health system reported operating expenses of $13.6 billion, up 8 percent year over year on a pro forma basis. Higher wages, increased agency staffing costs and overtime pushed Providence’s labor costs higher year over year, the system said in an earnings release. 

Providence ended the first two quarters of this year with an operating loss of $934 million, compared to an operating loss of $94 million in the same period a year earlier. The system’s second-quarter operating loss totaled $424 million. 

Providence, which has system offices in Renton, Wash., and Irvine, Calif., released its financial results a month after announcing a plan to shrink its leadership team and roll out a new divisional structure. 

“Creating a more sustainable model of health care by 2025 has been a key part of our vision since before the pandemic,” Providence CFO Greg Hoffman said in the earnings release. “But it has become even more imperative today as health systems across the country face a new reality. Alongside our investments to simplify processes and modernize technology, streamlining our leadership and administrative structure is another way we will ensure we are operating as efficiently as possible, so that we can keep resources focused on direct patient care, especially for those who are most vulnerable.” 

For the six months ended June 30, Providence invested $1 billion in community benefit, compared to $813 million in the same period of 2021, according to the earnings release. 

“Having served the Western U.S. for more than 165 years, Providence has lived through other economic downturns, past pandemics, and periods of political and social unrest. With the steps we are taking to respond to the times, we will continue supporting caregivers and serving our communities throughout these challenging times, with the mission of Providence enduring for generations to come,” Providence President and CEO Rod Hochman, MD, said in the earnings release. 

Profits climb for major insurers as hospital volumes drop in Q2

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All but two of the seven largest insurers saw profits climb in the second quarter as hospital operators continued to struggle with weak volumes and higher labor costs.

The nation’s top health insurers again raised financial targets for the year as revenues climbed on increased membership, while some signs indicated demand for medical services was tepid.   

All but two of the seven largest insurers saw profits climb in the second quarter compared with the prior-year period, as many saw a key metric for medical spending decrease. 

Many of the largest insurers saw profits climb in the second quarter

Industry observers have been closely watching for signals of pent-up demand as many patients delayed care amid the varying spikes in COVID-19 cases. 

That didn’t seem to materialize in the second quarter as insurance executives didn’t report a surge in care. Almost all insurers saw their medical loss ratios either decline or remain the same from the second quarter last year.   

Executives at Cigna, one of the nation’s largest insurers with nearly 18 million members, said there were fewer surgeries, fewer emergency room visits and fewer people admitted to the hospital in the second quarter compared to the prior-year period. 

Direct COVID-19 costs were also better-than-expected, Cigna executives told investors on the second-quarter earnings call. As fewer Cigna patients sought medical care, net income climbed 6% to $1.6 billion.

Cigna wasn’t alone in reporting lighter patient volumes. 

UnitedHealthcare, the insurer arm of UnitedHealth Group with more than 51 million members, reported a lower level of COVID-19 patient care and said usage of some medical services still fell below pre-pandemic levels, including pediatrics and the emergency department. UnitedHealth’s net income increased to $5.1 billion. 

Humana also noticed a dip in members utilizing medical services, noting fewer Medicare members were admitted to the hospital in the quarter. Humana’s net income also climbed 18% to $696 million.  

Q2 performances led insurers to raise their financial expectations for the full year. 

“The lower utilization trends and lack of COVID-19 headwinds seen to date, give us confidence in raising our full year adjusted [earnings per share] guide,” Humana CFO Susan Diamond said on a call with investors.

On the other hand, the nation’s for-profit hospital chains reported fewer admissions and a dip in profits as they continued to deal with labor and other expenses amid record high inflation. 

“U.S. hospitals and health systems are now halfway through an extremely challenging year,” Kaufman Hall said in a recent report that showed six consecutive months of negative operating margins.

Fitch Ratings revised its ratings outlook to negative from stable for Community Health Systems following the hospital chain’s second-quarter results. 

Fitch said the revision reflects “significant increases in labor costs and weakness in volume” throughout the first half of the year.

Nonprofit hospital operators have also faced challenges in the first half of the year.  

Both Kaiser Permanente and Sutter Health reported net losses in the second quarter of the calendar year as expenses grew and investment income declined.

Kaiser posts $1.3B loss in Q2

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Kaiser Permanente reported lower revenues in the second quarter of this year than in the same period a year earlier, and the Oakland, Calif.-based healthcare giant ended the period with a net loss. 

Kaiser, which provides healthcare and health plans, reported operating revenue of $23.47 billion in the second quarter of 2022, down from $23.69 billion in the same quarter of 2021. The organization’s expenses climbed from $23.34 billion in the second quarter of last year to $23.38 billion in the same period this year. 

“Much like the entire health care industry, we continue to address deferred care while navigating COVID-19 surges and associated expenses,” Kathy Lancaster, Kaiser executive vice president and CFO, said in an Aug. 5 earnings release. “Kaiser Permanente’s integrated model of providing both care and coverage enables us to meet these challenges as demonstrated by our moderate increase in year-over-year operating expenses for the second quarter.”

Kaiser ended the second quarter of this year with operating income of $89 million, down from $349 million a year earlier. 

After factoring in a nonoperating loss of $1.4 billion, Kaiser reported a net loss of $1.3 billion for the second quarter of this year, compared to net income of $2.97 billion in the same period last year. Kaiser said the loss was largely attributable to market conditions. 

This is the second quarter in a row that Kaiser has reported a loss. The organization closed out the first quarter of this year with a net loss of $961 million, compared to net income of $2 billion in the same quarter of 2021. 

Sutter Health’s rising expenses and rough investments yield a $457M net loss for Q2 2022

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https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/providers/sutter-healths-rising-expenses-and-rough-investments-yield-457m-net-loss-q2-2022?utm_source=email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=HC-NL-FierceHealthcare&oly_enc_id=8564C4000334E5C

Updated on Aug. 5 with comments from Sutter Health.

A $457 million net loss for the quarter ended June 30 has brought Sutter Health even deeper into the red for 2022, according to new financial filings.

The Sacramento-based nonprofit health system brought in $3.49 billion in total operating revenues from the quarter, down slightly from the prior year’s $3.51 billion.

At the same time, the system’s operating expenses grew from $3.41 billion in the second quarter of 2021 to $3.55 billion in the most recent quarter, driven by $30 million and $151 million year-over-year increases in salaries and purchased services, respectively. The latter includes the increased professional fees being felt by labor-strapped systems across the country.

These led the system to report a $51 million operating loss for the quarter as opposed to the $106 million operating gain from last year’s equivalent quarter.

“Poorly” performing financial markets also took a toll on Sutter’s numbers. The system’s quarterly investment income dipped from $251 million to $56 million from 2021 to 2022. A $495 million downward change in net unrealized gains and losses on its investments was also a stark reversal from the prior year’s $270 million increase.

The new numbers cement what was already looking to be a tricky year for Sutter Health, which had previously reported a $184 million net loss for its opening quarter.

Despite a 1.5% year-over-year operating revenue increase to $7.05 billion for the opening six months, a 1.7% year-over-year operating revenue bump places the system’s year-to-date income at $44 million (0.6% operating margin), slightly below last year’s $57 million (0.8% operating margin).

However, market struggles through both quarters and a $208 million loss tied to the disaffiliation of Samuel Merritt University now has Sutter sitting at a $641 million net loss for the opening half of 2022. The system was up $825 million at the same time last year.

“Sutter’s finances have stabilized, but our year-to-date numbers show we still have more affordability work ahead as we strive to best position Sutter Health to serve our patients and communities into the future,” the system wrote in an email statement. “We are grateful for our employees and clinicians who have worked diligently over the last several years to help bring our costs down—at the same time managing through the pandemic and continuing to provide high-quality, nationally recognized care.”

Sutter noted in the filing that it is or will be in labor negotiations with much of its unionized workforce, as 43% of its contract agreements have either expired or will be running their course within the year.

The filing also included notice of a handful of legal matters that have yet to be resolved. These include an antitrust verdict in favor of Sutter that is being appealed by the plaintiff, a lawsuit regarding an alleged privacy breach of two anonymous plaintiffs and two separate class-action complaints regarding employee retirement plan funding, among others.

“The organization continues to face financial headwinds like inflation and increased staffing costs, as evidenced by our near breakeven operating margin,” Sutter said in a statement. “Even still, we are encouraged that independent ratings agencies have recently acknowledged our efforts to date. In the second quarter, Moody’s, S&P and Fitch all affirmed the system’s existing ‘A’ category bond ratings.”

Much of Sutter’s pains are being felt across the industry. A recent Kaufman Hall industrywide report showed only marginal relief from expenses and middling non-COVID volume recovery through June, while a Fitch Ratings update on nonprofit hospitals warned that these challenges and broader inflation pressures will likely weigh down the sector through 2022.

HOSPITALS SEE NEGATIVE MARGINS FOR SIXTH CONSECUTIVE MONTH

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https://www.healthleadersmedia.com/finance/hospitals-see-negative-margins-sixth-consecutive-month

Expenses are still weighing heavily on hospitals, health systems, and physician’s practices as the cost of care continues to rise.

Hospitals, health systems, and physician’s practices are still struggling under the weight of significant financial pressure, that the rise in patient volume and revenue can’t seem to outweigh.

The increase in patient volume and revenue has not been able to offset the historically high operating margins these organizations are facing, according to data from Kaufman Hall’s National Hospital Flash Report and Physician Flash Report. Hospitals, health systems, and physician’s practices dealt with negative margins in June for the sixth consecutive month this year.

“To say that 2022 has challenged healthcare providers is an understatement,” Erik Swanson, a senior vice president of data and analytics with Kaufman Hall, said in an email report. “It’s unlikely that hospitals and health systems can undo the damage caused by the COVID-19 waves of earlier this year, especially with material and labor costs at record highs this summer.”

The median Kaufman Hall year-to-date operating margin index for hospitals was -0.09% through June, for the sixth month of cumulative negative actual operating margins. However, the median change in operating margin in June was up 30.8% compared to May, but down 49.3% from June 2021.

Hospital revenues for June continued to trend upward, even as volumes evened out, according to the Kauffman Hall data. Organizations saw a 2.1% drop in patient length of stay. Both patient days and emergency department visits each dropped by 2.6% in June when compared to May. Hospital’s gross operating revenue was up 1.2% in June from May.

Expenses have been dragging down hospital margins for months, however, June saw a slight month-over-month improvement as total hospital expenses dropped 1.3%, despite this, year-over-year expenses are still up 7.5% from June 2021. Physician practices saw a drop in provider compensation, according to the Kaufman Hall data, however, this wasn’t enough to offset expenses. The competitive labor market for healthcare support staff resulted in a new high for total direct expense per provider FTE in Q2 2022 of $619,682—up 7% from the second quarter of 2021 and 12% from the second quarter of 2020.

“Given the trends in the data, physician practices need to focus on efficiency in the second half of 2022,” Matthew Bates, managing director and Physician Enterprise service line lead with Kaufman Hall, said in the email report. “Amid historically high expenses, shifting some services away from physicians to advanced practice providers like nurse practitioners or physician assistants could help rein in the costs of treating an increased patient load while taking some of the weight off the shoulders of physicians.”

Fitch: Outlook is negative for CHS

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Fitch Ratings has affirmed the “B-” long-term issuer default ratings of Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems, and revised the company’s rating outlook to negative from stable. 

The credit rating agency said the negative outlook reflects operating performance deterioration in the first half of this year, with significant increases in labor costs. Higher costs, weakness in volumes and acuity mix drove a downturn in the for-profit company’s revenue, resulting in a reduction in its financial guidance for this year, Fitch said. 

CHS ended the first six months of this year with a net loss of $327 million on revenues of $6.04 billion. In the first half of 2021, the company posted a net loss of $58 million on revenues of $6.02 billion.

Fitch noted that CHS still benefits from its strengthened liquidity and balance sheet after several debt refinancing and exchange transactions. CHS also benefits from investments in outpatient care and higher-acuity inpatient services, the credit rating agency said. 

For-profit hospital company earnings announcements show economic headwinds are mounting

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While for-profit health system giants HCA Healthcare and Tenet Healthcare reported reductions in contract labor usage last quarter, sustained higher labor costs and sluggish demand resulted in both of them, along with Community Health Systems and Universal Health Services, seeing their net income decline in the second quarter.

Like many systems, the for-profit chains seem to have successfully weaned themselves from earlier reliance on expensive temporary nurses, but are facing more structural increases in labor costs as salaries have risen to remain competitive in a very tight labor market.

The Gist: The earnings reports from for-profit companies are a canary in the coal mine for the overall margin performance of the industry. Although investor-owned companies are vastly outnumbered by their not-for-profit peers, they often move more quickly, and with more vigor, to reduce costs in order to meet the earnings expectations of Wall Street investors. They also typically rely more heavily on volume growth—particularly emergency department visits—as a driver of earnings. 

If for-profits are now finding it more difficult to pull those levers, we’d expect that the broader universe of nonprofit systems is experiencing even tougher sledding. That’s consistent with what we’re hearing anecdotally from health systems we work with.

Washington hospitals report $929M loss over 3 months

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Washington State Hospital Association reported a $929 million net loss due to an increase in operating expenses and nonoperating investment losses, The News Tribune reported July 21. 

The review reflected January through March 2022 and showed operating revenue increased by 5 percent; however, operating expenses increased by 11 percent. 

“This combined with non-operating investment losses, resulted in a total margin of negative 13 percent,” WSHA said in a briefing of the review July 21. 

The losses were mainly seen in urban Washington hospitals, though rural hospitals were also affected. 

“All 52 urban hospitals/health systems reported negative margins and account for 86 percent of the losses statewide,” WSHA said. “Of the independent rural hospitals responding, 18 out of 32 had negative margins.”

WSHA said lower Medicaid reimbursements were part of the problem. In the first quarter, Medicaid reimbursements covered 42 percent of the cost of care delivery. 

Pandemic pressures also had a negative effect, according to WSHA. It said federal COVID-19 relief funds have been depleted. 

Additionally, WSHA said labor costs have continued to rise because of a need to retain staff and a reliance on travel nurses with high wages. 

HCA, Tenet profits sink: 10 things to know

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HCA Healthcare and Tenet Healthcare, two of the largest for-profit hospital operators in the U.S., reported lower net income in the second quarter of this year than in the same period of 2021. 

HCA Healthcare

1. Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare, a 182-hospital system, reported revenues of $14.82 billion in the second quarter of this year, up from $14.44 billion in the same period last year. 

2. HCA’s net income totaled $1.16 billion in the second quarter of 2022, down from $1.45 billion in the same period a year ago. The second quarter of this year included $32 million in losses on the sales of facilities and and losses on retirement of debt of $78 million. 

3. HCA said same-facility admissions declined 1.2 percent year over year in the second quarter of this year. Emergency room visits were up 7.3 percent year over year. 

4. “Many aspects of our business were positive considering the challenges we faced with the labor market and other inflationary pressures on costs,” Sam Hazen, CEO of HCA, said in a July 22 earnings release. “Our teams executed well as they have in the past through other difficult environments. Again, I want to thank them for their dedication and excellent work.”

5. For the six months ended June 30, HCA reported net income of $2.43 billion on revenues of $29.77 billion. In the same period a year earlier, the company posted net income of $2.87 billion on revenues of $28.41 billion. 

Tenet Healthcare

1. Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare reported revenues of $4.64 billion in the second quarter of this year, down from $4.95 billion in the same period a year earlier. The decrease was primarily attributed to the sale of the company’s Miami-area hospitals in the third quarter of 2021 and the impact of a cybersecurity incident. 

2. The 60-hospital system ended the second quarter of this year with net income of $38 million, down from $119 million in the same quarter last year. 

3. Same-hospital admissions adjusted for outpatient activity were down 5.3 percent year over year in the second quarter of this year. Tenet said a cybersecurity incident in April that temporarily disrupted some acute care operations contributed to the decline. 

4. “We demonstrated resilience in the face of a disruptive cyber attack and discipline through challenging market conditions,” Saum Sutaria, MD, CEO of Tenet, said in a July 21 earnings release. “The ongoing diversification of Tenet driven by our capital efficient ambulatory expansion is a key differentiator that presents compelling opportunities for growth in earnings and free cash flows.”

5. Looking at the six months ended June 30, Tenet reported net income of $178 million on revenues of $9.38 billion. In the same period of 2021, the company reported net income of $216 million on revenues of $9.74 billion. 

10 health systems with strong finances

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Here are 10 health systems with strong operational metrics and solid financial positions, according to reports from Fitch Ratings and Moody’s Investors Service.

1. AnMed Health has an “AA-” rating and stable outlook with Fitch. The Anderson, S.C.-based system has a leading market share in most service lines, strong operating performance and very solid EBITDA margins, Fitch said. 

2. Banner Health has an “AA-” rating and stable outlook with Fitch. The Phoenix-based health system’s core hospital delivery system and growth of its insurance division combine to make it a successful highly integrated delivery system, Fitch said. The credit rating agency said it expects Banner to maintain operating EBITDA margins of about 8 percent on an annual basis, reflecting the growing revenues from the system’s insurance division and large employed physician base. 

3. Franciscan Alliance has an “AA” rating and stable outlook with Fitch. The Mishawaka, Ind.-based health system has a very strong cash position and maintains leading market shares in seven of its nine defined primary service areas, Fitch said. The health system benefits from a good payer mix, the credit rating agency said. 

4. Gundersen Health System has an “AA-” rating and stable outlook with Fitch. The La Crosse, Wis.-based health system has strong balance sheet metrics and a leading market position and expanding operating platform in its service area, Fitch said. The credit rating agency expects the health system to return to strong operating performance as it emerges from disruption related to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

5. Hackensack Meridian Health has an “AA-” rating and stable outlook with Fitch. The Edison, N.J.-based health system has shown consistent year-over-year increases in market share and has a solid liquidity position, Fitch said. 

6. Falls Church, Va.-based Inova Health System has an “Aa2” rating and stable outlook with Moody’s. The health system has a consistently strong operating cash flow margin and ample balance sheet resources, Moody’s said. Inova’s financial excellence will remain undergirded by its favorable regulatory and economic environment, the credit rating agency said. 

7. Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Healthcare has an “Aa1” rating and stable outlook with Moody’s. The health system has exceptional credit quality, which will continue to benefit from its leading market position in Utah, Moody’s said. The credit rating agency said the health system’s merger with Broomfield, Colo.-based SCL Health will give Intermountain greater geographic reach. 

8. Fort Wayne, Ind.-based Parkview Health has an “Aa3” rating and stable outlook with Moody’s. The health system has a leading market position with expansive tertiary and quaternary clinical services in northeastern Indiana and northwestern Ohio, Moody’s said. The credit rating agency said the stable outlook reflects management’s ability to generate strong operating performance during the pandement and with less favorable reimbursement rates. 

9. UnityPoint Health has an “AA-” rating and stable outlook with Fitch. The Des Moines, Iowa-based health system has strong leverage metrics and cash position, Fitch said. The credit rating agency expects the health system’s balance sheet and debt service coverage metrics to remain robust. 

10. Yale New Haven (Conn.) Health has an “AA-” rating and stable outlook with Fitch. The health system’s turnaround efforts, brand recognition and market presence will help it return to strong operating