Mr. Fetter noted that at the same time, the President announced $313 billion in healthcare savings over the next 10 years, which translates into $220 billion in payment cuts to hospitals for Medicare and Medicaid patients, according to the report.
While he acknowledge that hospitals stand to benefit from expanded coverage of the uninsured, Mr. Fetter said that the timing of the expanded coverage is crucial. Adding coverage of all uninsured patients at one time could exhaust what little profit margins most hospitals have, according to the report.
Like other hospitals, Tenet has seen an increase in uninsured patients, noting a 7 percent decrease in managed care admissions in the first two months of the second quarter. Mr. Fetter said that cost controls and the “less-intense” competition some Tenet hospitals face in their markets have helped the company perform well in spite of the economy, according to the report.
Read the Wall Street Journal’s report on the Tenet CEO’s concerns over the Obama healthcare plan.
