Tenet Expects 15% Of Its Uninsured To Get Obamacare Coverage
Tenet Healthcare Corp., the nation鈥檚 third largest for-profit hospital operator, said Tuesday it expects 15 percent of its uninsured patients to get covered this year as a result of the Affordable Care Act.
But the company isn鈥檛 counting yet on any higher profits from the shift, Tenet officials said after聽a conference call with
鈥淐ommon sense tells you those who have insurance for the first time will use it and seek health care to a greater extent than they did in the past,鈥 , Tenet鈥檚 chief executive officer,聽said in an interview. 鈥淏ut we are taking the approach that until we see it, we are not ready to forecast it.鈥
Tenet, which runs 77 hospitals mostly in California, Florida and Texas, is the first hospital operator to predict how many of its patients would gain coverage,聽analysts say. California expanded Medicaid under the health law. Florida and Texas have not. Tenet expects 10 percent of its patients to gain Medicaid coverage and 5 percent to gain private insurance through the health law鈥檚 online marketplaces.
Tenet officials said the insurance plans being sold on the exchange will pay the company聽rates similar to聽that of traditional private insurers. It said the reimbursement will range from the same to 10 percent less.
Tenet is taking an aggressive approach to driving enrollment in Medicaid and聽the exchanges. This month, Tenet sent out about 250,000 letters to uninsured patients to advise them about signing up for Medicaid or private coverage on the exchanges. It also began calling聽10,000 uninsured patients who have been frequent users of their emergency rooms to tell them about new insurance options.
Over time, coverage of newly insured patients under the health law will聽reduce bad debt expenses at its hospitals and gradually drive higher admissions, Fetter said聽on the
