Weighted by free care costs, Henry Ford earnings fall

Henry Ford Health System is actually one of the lucky ones--after all, the not-for-profit made $105.8 million on $3.47 billion in revenue during 2007. The thing is, the health system's earnings are down substantially from the previous year's showing, largely because its cost of providing free care nearly doubled. Health system officials said that rising free care costs were driven by job losses and related losses of employee benefits in Michigan.

Henry Ford's 2007 earnings took a dive from the $134.9 million it made in 2006, despite its admissions rising due both to increases at existing facilities and new inflows from two facilities it acquired. That's because the cost of providing care to the uninsured and uninsured climbed from $13.4 million in 2006 to $25.3 million last year. Meanwhile, bad debt write-offs were $47.5 million, up from $42.2 million in 2006.

To learn more about Henry Ford's financial picture:
- read this Detroit Free Press piece

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