Out of the three possible outcomes regarding the Supreme Court's ruling of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, for-profit hospitals stand to lose financially on two, according to a report from Moody's Investors Service.
For-profits will hurt if the healthcare law is struck down in any fashion. If the Supreme Court rules the entire law is unconstitutional or if only the individual mandate is unconstitutional, the result would be a credit negative for for-profit hospitals, as well as drug companies and medical device companies. For-profit hospitals, in particular, would face increased exposure to bad debt as more people would lose or remain without insurance.
If the PPACA is upheld, for-profit hospitals would benefit as their bad debt charges would drop, according to the report.
For-profits will hurt if the healthcare law is struck down in any fashion. If the Supreme Court rules the entire law is unconstitutional or if only the individual mandate is unconstitutional, the result would be a credit negative for for-profit hospitals, as well as drug companies and medical device companies. For-profit hospitals, in particular, would face increased exposure to bad debt as more people would lose or remain without insurance.
If the PPACA is upheld, for-profit hospitals would benefit as their bad debt charges would drop, according to the report.
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