US hospital operators rise after Humana warns of surge in medical costs

Community Health Systems

25/01/2024 17:50

** Shares of hospital operators rise between 1% and 2% after
Humana  HUM.N  warns of an "unprecedented" increase in medical
costs
    ** Shares of HCA Healthcare  HCA.N  up 1.2% at $282.2, while
that of Tenet Healthcare Corp  THC.N  rise 1.8% at ~$81
    ** HUM is the first insurer to warn of a profit hit from the
high costs, while UnitedHealth  UNH.N  and Elevance Health
 ELV.N  said expenses are so far tracking prior expectations
    ** Community Health Systems  CYH.N  and Universal Health
Services  UHS.N  up about 1% each
    ** Medical costs for health insurers were elevated in 2023
and picked up more in Q4 as older adults returned to hospitals
to catch up on procedures like hip and knee replacements that
were delayed during the pandemic
    ** In 2023, HCA stock was up 12.8%, THC gained about 55%,
UHS rose 8.2%, while CYH fell 27.6%

 (Reporting by Pratik Jain in Bengaluru)
 ((Pratik.Jain@thomsonreuters.com;))