Tenet Healthcare Sees 3Q Loss

by Mike Bevel, CollectionIndustry.com

Thanks to higher than expected bad debt expense and increasing declines in the number of insured patients seeking medical care, Tenet Healthcare is forecasting losses for its third quarter.

According to a Business Week profile, for the quarter ended Sept. 30, Tenet forecast a loss of $82 million to $92 million, or 17 cents to 20 cents per share. It also projected a loss from continuing operations between $23 million to $33 million, or 5 cents to 7 cents per share.

Tenet also said it received an Internal Revenue Service report that will result in adjustment to its tax liabilities that it expects will add about $35 million, or 7 cents per share, to continuing operations and have an unfavorable impact on discontinued operations of roughly $36 million, or 8 cents per share.

The IRS report follows an audit of Tenet’s tax returns for the fiscal years ended May 31, 1998 through the Dec. 31, 2002.