Tenet CEO Trevor Fetter: Obamacare fueling hospital admissions, revenue

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Kevin Brown

Tenet Healthcare CEO Trevor Fetter

Bill Hethcock

Staff Writer- Dallas Business Journal

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Tenet Healthcare Corp.'s third-quarter revenue soared and admissions rose in results that CEO Trevor Fetter credited largely to the Affordable Care Act.

In the latest quarter, Dallas-based Tenet's revenue increased 74 percent to $4.18 billion. Medicare admissions rose 24 percent in the five states that expanded Medicare eligibility under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.

Uninsured and charity admissions dropped 59 percent as patients who in the past visited hospitals but weren't able to pay received health-care coverage through government-run marketplaces or an expanded Medicaid program.

Fetter attributed the increase in admissions and revenue to the ACA and to improving hospital operation fundamentals.

"About 50 percent of it is strategies we've been deploying to invest capital wisely in our hospitals and develop closer relationships with our physicians and with the consumers," Fetter said. "About 40 percent of it is driven by increased access to insurance that people have because of the Affordable Care Act. Those people are signing up for Medicaid and buying insurance plans on the insurance exchanges, and to the extent that they have health problems, they are using that coverage."

Fetter said he doesn't expect the Affordable Care Act to be repealed, regardless of outcome of Tuesday's election.

"It's too late," he said. "The American public is really starting to enjoy the access to health insurance that they have under the act and to tear that down would be self destructive."

For the year, Tenet (THC) raised its projection for adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization by $50 million. The company now expects earnings to range from $1.90 billion to $1.95 billion.

Bill covers health care, law, education and general assignments. Subscribe to our email newsletters.