Nonprofit hospitals' 2013 revenue lowest since recession, report says

Nonprofit hospitals last year had their worst financial performance since the Great Recession, according to a report released on Wednesday. The poor operating performance of many hospitals underscored some of the changes in the health care system as the federal government and private health plans became less willing to pay for hospital care and changed the way they paid hospitals in an effort to reduce costs. Hospital revenue growth slowed to a nominal low in 2013 — 3.9 percent — as hospital admissions fell for the first time, according to the report by Moody's Investors Service, which analyzed the results of 383 hospital systems. Hospitals had generally been able to increase revenue by 7 percent or more a year.