TEXT-Fitch: changes in hospitals' bad debt reporting improve disclosure

Link to Fitch Ratings' Report: For-Profit Hospital Insights: Fitch's Annual
Review of Bad Debt Accounting Policies and PracticesJune 21 - High levels of uncompensated care for hospitals have not abated
during the weak economic recovery. This is due to elevated unemployment, more
uninsured patients and increasing patient responsibility for health care costs.
Elevated levels of uncompensated care highlight the need for close scrutiny of
bad debt accounting methodologies, according to Fitch Ratings.

Starting with fiscal years beginning after Dec. 15, 2011, healthcare provider
entities were required to adopt an Accounting Standards Update (ASU) that
results in bad debt expense being recorded as a reduction to net revenue, rather
than an operating expense.

Fitch believes the ASU is an improvement on the prior reporting standard. It
results in companies reporting a net revenue number closer to what they actually
expect to collect while also enhancing the comparability of some metrics
including operating margins, reported revenue growth and revenue per admission.

Reclassifying bad debt expense results in a boost in operating margins, but does
not affect operating income. On average, operating EBITDA margins of for-profit
hospital providers would have been 112 bps higher in 2011 under the updated
accounting treatment.

Companies with relatively less generous charity care and discount programs, such
as LifePoint Hospitals, Inc., were recording higher bad debt expense and
therefore saw a bigger boost to margins.

The full report 'For-Profit Hospital Insights: Fitch's Annual Review of Bad Debt
Accounting Policies and Practices' is available at 'www.fitchratings.com.'

The report includes an in-depth discussion of bad debt accounting practices and
reserve methodologies plus a company-specific presentation of historical trends
in revenue, bad debt expense, accounts receivables, and the allowance for
doubtful accounts.

Additional information is available at 'www.fitchratings.com'.