Hospital stocks lower after Republicans propose Medicare funding cut

Hospital provider stocks moved lower after House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said Republicans are considering a Medicare pay cut for hospitals. The policy was included in a list of health care options presented to Republican House members in a meeting on Wednesday, according to a document viewed by Bloomberg, reports Rachel Cohrs Zhang and Caitlin Reilly. Under the GOP proposal, Medicare would pay health care providers the same amount for the same health services, regardless of whether a patient receives them in a physician’s office or a hospital, Bloomberg points out. Publicly traded companies in the hospital space include Community Health (CYH), HCA Healthcare (HCA), Tenet Healthcare (THC) and Universal Health (UHS).