Shares of several acute-care hospital operators fell Monday after LifePoint Hospitals Inc. reported a 62 percent drop in second-quarter profit and lowered its full-year guidance, due in part to increased bad debt and higher costs.
Bad debt, or the debt owed to a hospital for medical care, is a perpetual concern for the industry and can be affected by federal reimbursement rates as well as the number of uninsured patients seen.
Shares of LifePoint fell $5.54, or 14.2 percent, to $33.57 in midday trading _ hovering just above the stock's 52-week low of $32.60. The company provides acute-care services in rural communities across the country.
