Medicare pay bump sends hospital stocks upwards

Not long after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services proposed boosting Medicare payments for inpatient stays by 0.8 percent, hospital stocks soared, according to Dow Jones Business News. On Monday, shares of Tenet Healthcare Corp. jumped 8.2 percent, while shares of HCA Holdings Inc. rose 7.1 percent. Not far behind, LifePoint Hospitals Inc. and Health Management Associates Inc. stocks are both up more than 5 percent, Dow Jones noted. The new CMS proposal also cuts reimbursements by 2 percentage points for acute care hospitals that miss quality benchmarks. The agency will likely issue its final ruling Aug. 1. Article