Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies (Policy)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2018

Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies [Abstract]

The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements of Community Health Systems, Inc. (the “Parent” or “Parent Company”) and its subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017 and for the three-month periods ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”). In the opinion of management, such information contains all adjustments, consisting only of normal recurring adjustments, necessary for a fair presentation of the results for such periods. All intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated. The results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2018, are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the full fiscal year ending December 31, 2018. Certain information and disclosures normally included in the notes to condensed consolidated financial statements have been condensed or omitted as permitted by the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). The Company believes the disclosures are adequate to make the information presented not misleading. The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto for the year ended December 31, 2017, contained in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February 28, 2018 (“2017 Form 10-K”).

Consolidation, Policy

Noncontrolling interests in less-than-wholly-owned consolidated subsidiaries of the Parent are presented as a component of total equity on the condensed consolidated balance sheets to distinguish between the interests of the Parent Company and the interests of the noncontrolling owners. Noncontrolling interests that are redeemable or may become redeemable at a fixed or determinable price at the option of the holder or upon the occurrence of an event outside of the control of the Company are presented in mezzanine equity on the condensed consolidated balance sheets.

Throughout these notes to the condensed consolidated financial statements, Community Health Systems, Inc., and its consolidated subsidiaries are referred to on a collective basis as the “Company.” This drafting style is not meant to indicate that the publicly traded Parent or any particular subsidiary of the Parent owns or operates any asset, business, or property. The hospitals, operations and businesses described in this filing are owned and operated by distinct and indirect subsidiaries of Community Health Systems, Inc.

Revenue Recognition, Policy

Revenue Recognition. On January 1, 2018, the Company adopted the new revenue recognition accounting standard issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) and codified in the FASB Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) as topic 606 (“ASC 606”). The revenue recognition standard in ASC 606 outlines a single comprehensive model for recognizing revenue as performance obligations, defined in a contract with a customer as goods or services transferred to the customer in exchange for consideration, are satisfied. The standard also requires expanded disclosures regarding the Company’s revenue recognition policies and significant judgments employed in the determination of revenue.

The Company applied the modified retrospective approach to all contracts when adopting ASC 606. As a result, at the adoption of ASC 606 the majority of what was previously classified as the provision for bad debts in the statement of operations is now reflected as implicit price concessions (as defined in ASC 606) and therefore included as a reduction to net operating revenues in 2018. For changes in credit issues not assessed at the date of service, the Company will prospectively recognize those amounts in other operating expenses on the statement of operations. For periods prior to the adoption of ASC 606, the provision for bad debts has been presented consistent with the previous revenue recognition standards that required it to be presented separately as a component of net operating revenues. Additionally, upon adoption of Topic 606 the allowance for doubtful accounts of approximately $3.9 billion as of January 1, 2018 was reclassified as a component of net patient accounts receivable. Other than these changes in presentation on the condensed consolidated statement of operations and condensed consolidated balance sheet, the adoption of ASC 606 did not have a material impact on the consolidated results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2018, and the Company does not expect it to have a material impact on its consolidated results of operations for the remainder of 2018 and on a prospective basis.

As part of the adoption of ASC 606, the Company elected two of the available practical expedients provided for in the standard. First, the Company did not adjust the transaction price for any financing components as those were deemed to be insignificant. Additionally, the Company expensed all incremental customer contract acquisition costs as incurred as such costs are not material and would be amortized over a period less than one year.

Net Operating Revenues

Upon the adoption of ASC 606, net operating revenues are recorded at the transaction price estimated by the Company to reflect the total consideration due from patients and third-party payors in exchange for providing goods and services in patient care. These services are considered to be a single performance obligation and have a duration of less than one year. Revenues are recorded as these goods and services are provided. The transaction price, which involves significant estimates, is determined based on the Company’s standard charges for the goods and services provided, with a reduction recorded for price concessions related to third party contractual arrangements as well as patient discounts and other patient price concessions. During the three months ended March 31, 2018, the impact of changes to the inputs used to determine the transaction price was considered immaterial to the current period.

Currently, several states utilize supplemental reimbursement programs for the purpose of providing reimbursement to providers to offset a portion of the cost of providing care to Medicaid and indigent patients. These programs are designed with input from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and are funded with a combination of state and federal resources, including, in certain instances, fees or taxes levied on the providers. Under these supplemental programs, the Company recognizes revenue and related expenses in the period in which amounts are estimable and collection is reasonably assured. Reimbursement under these programs is reflected in net operating revenues and fees, taxes or other program-related costs are reflected in other operating expenses.

The Company’s net operating revenues during the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017 have been presented in the table based on an allocation of the estimated transaction price with the patient between the primary patient classification of insurance coverage (in millions):



	Three Months Ended
	March 31,
	2018		2017
Medicare	$	1,033	$	1,234
Medicaid		459		587
Managed Care and other third-party payors		2,117		2,528
Self-pay		80		137
Total	$	3,689	$	4,486

Patient Accounts Receivable

Patient accounts receivable are recorded at net realizable value based on certain assumptions determined by each payor. For third-party payors including Medicare, Medicaid, and Managed Care, the net realizable value is based on the estimated contractual reimbursement percentage, which is based on current contract prices or historical paid claims data by payor. For self-pay accounts receivable, which includes patients who are uninsured and the patient responsibility portion for patients with insurance, the net realizable value is determined using estimates of historical collection experience without regard to aging category. These estimates are adjusted for estimated conversions of patient responsibility portions, expected recoveries and any anticipated changes in trends.

Patient accounts receivable can be impacted by the effectiveness of the Company’s collection efforts. Additionally, significant changes in payor mix, business office operations, economic conditions or trends in federal and state governmental healthcare coverage could affect the net realizable value of accounts receivable. The Company also continually reviews the net realizable value of accounts receivable by monitoring historical cash collections as a percentage of trailing net operating revenues, as well as by analyzing current period net revenue and admissions by payor classification, aged accounts receivable by payor, days revenue outstanding, the composition of self-pay receivables between pure self-pay patients and the patient responsibility portion of third-party insured receivables and the impact of recent acquisitions and dispositions.

Final settlements for some payors and programs are subject to adjustment based on administrative review and audit by third parties. As a result of these final settlements, the Company has recorded amounts due to third-party payors of $149 million and $156 million as of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively, and these amounts are included in Accrued liabilities-other in the accompanying condensed consolidated balance sheets. Amounts due from third-party payors were $159 million and $153 million as of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively, and are included in other current assets in the accompanying condensed consolidated balance sheets. Substantially all Medicare and Medicaid cost reports are final settled through 2014.

Charity Care

In the ordinary course of business, the Company renders services to patients who were financially unable to pay for hospital care. The Company’s policy is to not pursue collections for such amounts; therefore, the related charges for those patients who are financially unable to pay and that otherwise do not qualify for reimbursement from a governmental program are not reported in net operating revenues, and are thus classified as charity care. The Company determines amounts that qualify for charity care primarily based on the patient’s household income relative to the federal poverty level guidelines, as established by the federal government.

These charity care services are estimated to be $114 million and $115 million for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively, representing the value (at the Company’s standard charges) of these charity care services that are excluded from net operating revenues. The estimated cost incurred by the Company to provide these charity care services to patients who are unable to pay was approximately $14 million for both of the three-month periods ended March 31, 2018 and 2017. The estimated cost of these charity care services was determined using a ratio of cost to gross charges and applying that ratio to the gross charges associated with providing care to charity patients for the period.

Accounting for the Impairment or Disposal of Long-Lived Assets, Policy

Accounting for the Impairment or Disposal of Long-Lived Assets. During the three months ended March 31, 2018, the Company recorded a total combined impairment charge and loss on disposal of approximately $28 million to reduce the carrying value of certain hospitals that have been deemed held for sale based on the difference between the carrying value of the hospital disposal groups compared to estimated fair value less costs to sell. Included in the carrying value of the hospital disposal groups at March 31, 2018 is a net allocation of approximately $25 million of goodwill allocated from the hospital operations reporting unit goodwill based on a calculation of the disposal groups’ relative fair value compared to the total reporting unit. The Company will continue to evaluate the potential for further impairment of the long-lived assets of underperforming hospitals as well as evaluating offers for potential sale. Based on such analysis, additional impairment charges may be recorded in the future.

During the three months ended March 31, 2017, the Company recorded a total impairment charge of approximately $250 million to reduce the carrying value of certain hospitals that were deemed held for sale based on the difference between the carrying value of the hospital disposal groups compared to estimated fair value less costs to sell. Included in the carrying value of the hospital disposal groups is a net allocation of approximately $192 million of goodwill allocated from the hospital operations reporting unit goodwill based on a calculation of the disposal groups’ relative fair value compared to the total reporting unit.

New Accounting Pronouncements, Policy

New Accounting Pronouncements. In January 2016, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2016-01, which amends the measurement, presentation and disclosure requirements for equity investments, other than those accounted for under the equity method or that require consolidation of the investee. The ASU eliminates the classification of equity investments as available-for-sale with any changes in fair value of such investments recognized in other comprehensive income, and requires entities to measure equity investments at fair value, with any changes in fair value recognized in net income. This ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, with early adoption permitted. To adopt this ASU, companies must record a cumulative-effect adjustment to beginning retained earnings at the beginning of the period of adoption. The Company adopted this ASU on January 1, 2018, and the adoption of this ASU did not have a material impact on its consolidated results of operations or financial position. Upon adoption, the Company recorded a reclassification of $6 million from accumulated other comprehensive loss as a decrease to accumulated deficit.

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, which amends the accounting for leases, requiring lessees to recognize most leases on their balance sheet with a right-of-use asset and a corresponding lease liability. Leases will be classified as either finance or operating leases, which will impact the expense recognition of such leases over the lease term. The ASU also modifies the lease classification criteria for lessors and eliminates some of the real estate leasing guidance previously applied for certain leasing transactions. This ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, with early adoption permitted. The Company expects to adopt this ASU on January 1, 2019. Because of the number of leases the Company utilizes to support its operations, the adoption of this ASU is expected to have a significant impact on the Company’s consolidated financial position and results of operations. The Company has organized an implementation group of cross-functional departmental management to ensure the completeness of its lease information, analyze the appropriate classification of current leases under the new standard, and develop new processes to execute, approve and classify leases on an ongoing basis. The Company has also engaged outside experts to assist in the development of this plan, as well as the identification and selection of software tools and processes to maintain lease information critical to applying the new standard. Management is currently evaluating the extent of this anticipated impact on the Company’s consolidated financial position and results of operations, and the quantitative and qualitative factors that will impact the Company as part of the adoption of this ASU, as well as any changes to its leasing strategy that may occur because of the changes to the accounting and recognition of leases.

In March 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-07, which changes the presentation of the components of net periodic benefit cost for sponsors of defined benefit plans for pensions. Under the changes in this ASU, the service cost component of net periodic benefit cost will be reported in the same income statement line as other employee compensation costs arising from services during the reporting period. The other components of net periodic benefit cost will be presented separately in a line item outside of operating income. This ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, with early adoption permitted. The Company adopted this ASU on January 1, 2018, and the adoption of this ASU did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial position or results of operations.

In August 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-12, which was issued to amend hedge accounting recognition and disclosure requirements to improve transparency and simplify the application of hedge accounting for certain hedging instruments. The amendments in this ASU that will have an impact on the Company include simplification of the periodic hedge effectiveness assessment, elimination of the benchmark interest rate concept for interest rate swaps, and enhancement of the ability to use the critical-terms match method for its cash flow hedges of forecasted interest payments. This ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, with early adoption permitted. The Company early adopted this ASU on January 1, 2018, and the adoption of this ASU did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial position or results of operations.

In February 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-02, which was issued to allow a reclassification from accumulated other comprehensive income to retained earnings for the stranded tax effects in accumulated other comprehensive income resulting from the enactment of the comprehensive tax legislation commonly referred to as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Tax Act”) and corresponding accounting treatment recorded in the fourth quarter of 2017. The ASU is effective for all entities for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, and interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption of the amendments in this ASU is permitted, including adoption in any interim period for reporting periods for which financial statements have not yet been issued. The Company early adopted this ASU on January 1, 2018, and the Company has elected to reclassify $6 million from accumulated other comprehensive loss as a decrease to accumulated deficit for these stranded tax effects. The stranded tax effects included in this adjustment solely relate to the reduction of the federal corporate tax rate as a result of the Tax Act. The Company’s accounting policy on releasing the income tax effects of amounts from Accumulated other comprehensive loss has been to apply such amounts on a portfolio basis