Colorado Managed Care Review 2007

(Denver) Hospitals here, included two of the three new hospitals in the Denver area, reported very strong profits in 2006. Colorado HMOs reported record profits in 2006 and the first half of 2007, even as their enrollment continued to decline.

These and other findings are reported in Colorado Managed Care Review 2007, to be released on Friday, April 11. This is the 14th edition of Allan Baumgarten's annual analysis of trends and issues in the Colorado?s health care market. Baumgarten, an independent analyst and researcher on health finance in local markets has published his Colorado market study since 1994 He also publishes annual market reports in California, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Texas and Wisconsin. A new Arizona study will be published in 2008.

In this new report, Baumgarten finds:

In 2006, hospital systems in the Denver area enjoyed very strong profits. According to Baumgarten?s analysis of hospital cost reports submitted to Medicare, hospitals in the Denver area had net income of $475 million or 9% of net patient revenues. The seven HealthOne/HCA hospitals, the largest system here, had net income before taxes of $283.7 million in 2006, or 14.1% of net patient revenue. The Centura and Exempla systems also reported strong net income. Two of the three new hospitals in the Denver suburbs, HealthOne Sky Ridge and Parker Adventist, had very strong results. While hospital utilization has increased, the new capacity has been followed by lower occupancy rates