Across the first few weeks of the year, a wave of corporate earnings reports is offering a first look at how healthcare companies emerged from a volatile year.
On the provider side, some of the largest health systems (including the major for-profits) have seen their margins stabilize or even trend in the right direction. Smaller and rural hospitals are struggling, however, as evidenced by the record share (43%) of health system and hospital M&A involving a financially distressed party last year.
Among the payers, companies like UHG and Humana that bet big on Medicare Advantage a few years ago when it seemed like easy money are seeing reversed fortunes (more on that below). But commercial players like Cigna seem to be faring better.
Here’s our take on several of the major releases: