Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2018

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, they do not include all the information and footnotes required by generally accepted accounting principles for complete consolidated financial statements. In the opinion of management, all adjustments considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included and are of a normal and recurring nature.

The majority of our expenses are “costs of revenues” items. Costs that could be classified as general and administrative would include our corporate office costs, which were $90 million and $83 million for the quarters ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively, and $254 million and $247 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively. Operating results for the quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2018 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2018. For further information, refer to the consolidated financial statements and footnotes thereto included in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017.

Revenues

Revenues

In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued a new standard related to revenue recognition. We adopted the new standard effective January 1, 2018, using the full retrospective method. The adoption of the new standard did not have an impact on our recognition of net revenues for any periods prior to adoption. The most significant impact of adopting the new standard is to the presentation of our consolidated income statements, where we no longer present the “Provision for doubtful accounts” as a separate line item and our “Revenues” are presented net of estimated implicit price concession revenue deductions. We also have eliminated the related presentation of “allowances for doubtful accounts” on our consolidated balance sheets as a result of the adoption of the new standard.

Our revenues generally relate to contracts with patients in which our performance obligations are to provide health care services to the patients. Revenues are recorded during the period our obligations to provide health care services are satisfied. Our performance obligations for inpatient services are generally satisfied over periods that average approximately five days, and revenues are recognized based on charges incurred in relation to total expected charges. Our performance obligations for outpatient services are generally satisfied over a period of less than one day. The contractual relationships with patients, in most cases, also involve a third-party payer (Medicare, Medicaid, managed care health plans and commercial insurance companies, including plans offered through the health insurance exchanges) and the transaction prices for the services provided are dependent upon the terms provided by (Medicare and Medicaid) or negotiated with (managed care health plans and commercial insurance companies) the third-party payers. The payment arrangements with third-party payers for the services we provide to the related patients typically specify payments at amounts less than our standard charges. Medicare generally pays for inpatient and outpatient services at prospectively determined rates based on clinical, diagnostic and other factors. Services provided to patients having Medicaid coverage are generally paid at prospectively determined rates per discharge, per identified service or per covered member. Agreements with commercial insurance carriers, managed care and preferred provider organizations generally provide for payments based upon predetermined rates per diagnosis, per diem rates or discounted fee-for-service rates. Management continually reviews the contractual estimation process to consider and incorporate updates to laws and regulations and the frequent changes in managed care contractual terms resulting from contract renegotiations and renewals.

Our revenues are based upon the estimated amounts we expect to be entitled to receive from patients and third-party payers. Estimates of contractual allowances under managed care and commercial insurance plans are based upon the payment terms specified in the related contractual agreements. Revenues related to uninsured patients and uninsured copayment and deductible amounts for patients who have health care coverage may have discounts applied (uninsured discounts and contractual discounts). We also record estimated implicit price concessions (based primarily on historical collection experience) related to uninsured accounts to record self-pay revenues at the estimated amounts we expect to collect. Our revenues from third-party payers and others (including uninsured patients) for the quarters and nine months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017 are summarized in the following table (dollars in millions):


	Quarter
	2018		Ratio			2017		Ratio
Medicare	$	2,404		21.0	%	$	2,298		21.5	%
Managed Medicare		1,344		11.7			1,122		10.5
Medicaid		338		3.0			286		2.7
Managed Medicaid		622		5.4			537		5.0
Managed care and insurers		6,026		52.6			5,605		52.4
International (managed care and insurers)		273		2.4			276		2.6
Other		444		3.9			572		5.3

Revenues	$	11,451		100.0	%	$	10,696		100.0	%


	Nine Months
	2018		Ratio			2017		Ratio
Medicare	$	7,353		21.4	%	$	6,931		21.6	%
Managed Medicare		4,088		11.9			3,463		10.8
Medicaid		976		2.8			956		3.0
Managed Medicaid		1,769		5.1			1,653		5.2
Managed care and insurers		18,081		52.6			16,957		52.9
International (managed care and insurers)		873		2.5			814		2.5
Other		1,263		3.7			1,278		4.0

Revenues	$	34,403		100.0	%	$	32,052		100.0	%

Laws and regulations governing the Medicare and Medicaid programs are complex and subject to interpretation. As a result, there is at least a reasonable possibility recorded estimates will change by a material amount. Estimated reimbursement amounts are adjusted in subsequent periods as cost reports are prepared and filed and as final settlements are determined (in relation to certain government programs, primarily Medicare, this is generally referred to as the “cost report” filing and settlement process).

The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (“EMTALA”) requires any hospital participating in the Medicare program to conduct an appropriate medical screening examination of every person who presents to the hospital’s emergency room for treatment and, if the individual is suffering from an emergency medical condition, to either stabilize the condition or make an appropriate transfer of the individual to a facility able to handle the condition. The obligation to screen and stabilize emergency medical conditions exists regardless of an individual’s ability to pay for treatment. Federal and state laws and regulations require, and our commitment to providing quality patient care encourages, us to provide services to patients who are financially unable to pay for the health care services they receive. Prior to November 2017, patients treated at hospitals for non-elective care, who have income at or below 200% of the federal poverty level, were eligible for charity care. During November 2017, we expanded our charity policy to include patients who have income above 200%, but at or below 400%, of the federal poverty level and we will limit the patient responsibility amounts for these patients to a percentage of their annual household income, computed on a sliding scale based upon their annual income and the applicable percentage of the federal poverty level. The federal poverty level is established by the federal government and is based on income and family size. Because we do not pursue collection of amounts determined to qualify as charity care, they are not reported in revenues. We provide discounts to uninsured patients who do not qualify for Medicaid or charity care. In implementing the uninsured discount policy, we may first attempt to provide assistance to uninsured patients to help determine whether they may qualify for Medicaid, other federal or state assistance, or charity care. If an uninsured patient does not qualify for these programs, the uninsured discount is applied.

The collection of outstanding receivables for Medicare, Medicaid, managed care payers, other third-party payers and patients is our primary source of cash and is critical to our operating performance. The primary collection risks relate to uninsured patient accounts, including patient accounts for which the primary insurance carrier has paid the amounts covered by the applicable agreement, but patient responsibility amounts (deductibles and copayments) remain outstanding. Implicit price concessions relate primarily to amounts due directly from patients. Estimated implicit price concessions are recorded for all uninsured accounts, regardless of the aging of those accounts. Accounts are written off when all reasonable internal and external collection efforts have been performed.

The estimates for implicit price concessions are based upon management’s assessment of historical writeoffs and expected net collections, business and economic conditions, trends in federal, state and private employer health care coverage and other collection indicators. Management relies on the results of detailed reviews of historical writeoffs and collections at facilities that represent a majority of our revenues and accounts receivable (the “hindsight analysis”) as a primary source of information in estimating the collectability of our accounts receivable. We perform the hindsight analysis quarterly, utilizing rolling twelve-months accounts receivable collection and writeoff data. We believe our quarterly updates to the estimated implicit price concession amounts at each of our hospital facilities provide reasonable estimates of our revenues and valuations of our accounts receivable. These routine, quarterly changes in estimates have not resulted in material adjustments to the valuations of our accounts receivable or period-to-period comparisons of our results of operations. At September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017, estimated implicit price concessions of $5.781 billion and $5.488 billion, respectively, had been recorded as reductions to our accounts receivable balances to enable us to record our revenues and accounts receivable at the estimated amounts we expect to collect.

To quantify the total impact of the trends related to uninsured accounts, we believe it is beneficial to view total uncompensated care, which is comprised of charity care, uninsured discounts and implicit price concessions. A summary of the estimated cost of total uncompensated care for the quarters and nine months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017 follows (dollars in millions):


	Quarter						Nine Months
	2018			2017			2018			2017
Patient care costs (salaries and benefits, supplies, other operating expenses and depreciation and amortization)	$	9,946		$	9,472		$	29,684		$	27,798
Cost-to-charges ratio (patient care costs as percentage of gross patient charges)		12.7	%		13.4	%		12.6	%		13.1	%
Total uncompensated care	$	6,786		$	6,089		$	19,524		$	17,137
Multiply by the cost-to-charges ratio		12.7	%		13.4	%		12.6	%		13.1	%

Estimated cost of total uncompensated care	$	862		$	816		$	2,460		$	2,245

Total uncompensated care as a percentage of the sum of revenues and total uncompensated care was 37.2% and 36.3% for the quarters ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively, and 36.2% and 34.8% for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively. The total uncompensated care amounts include charity care of $2.314 billion and $1.235 billion, and the related estimated costs of charity care were $295 million and $167 million for the quarters ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively, and charity care of $6.170 billion and $3.494 billion, and the related estimated costs of charity care were $777 million and $458 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

Recent Pronouncements

Recent Pronouncements

In February 2016, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update 2016-02, Leases (“ASU 2016-02”), which requires lessees to recognize assets and liabilities for most leases. ASU 2016-02 is effective for public business entities for annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2018. Early adoption is permitted. We are continuing to evaluate the provisions of ASU 2016-02 (and related developments) to determine how our financial statements will be affected, and we believe the primary effect of adopting the new standard will be to record right-of-useassets and obligations for our leases currently classified as operating leases.

During October 2018, the SEC adopted a final rule affecting interim financial statements which requires a reconciliation of changes in stockholders’ equity in the notes to the financial statements or as a separate statement. We have included a single statement presentation of our condensed consolidated statements of stockholders’ deficit for the quarters and nine months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017.

Reclassifications

Reclassifications

Certain prior year amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current year presentation.

Earning Per Share

We compute basic earnings per share using the weighted average number of common shares outstanding. We compute diluted earnings per share using the weighted average number of common shares outstanding, plus the dilutive effect of outstanding equity awards and potential shares, computed using the treasury stock method.

Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures

Accounting Standards Codification 820, Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures (“ASC 820”) emphasizes fair value is a market-based measurement, and fair value measurements should be determined based on the assumptions market participants would use in pricing assets or liabilities. ASC 820 utilizes a fair value hierarchy that distinguishes between market participant assumptions based on market data obtained from sources independent of the reporting entity (observable inputs classified within Levels 1 and 2 of the hierarchy) and the reporting entity’s own assumptions about market participant assumptions (unobservable inputs classified within Level 3 of the hierarchy).

Level 1 inputs utilize quoted prices (unadjusted) in active markets for identical assets or liabilities. Level 2 inputs are inputs other than quoted prices included in Level 1 that are observable for the asset or liability, either directly or indirectly. Level 2 inputs may include quoted prices for similar assets and liabilities in active markets, as well as inputs observable for the asset or liability (other than quoted prices), such as interest rates, foreign exchange rates, and yield curves observable at commonly quoted intervals. Level 3 inputs are unobservable inputs for the asset or liability, which are typically based on an entity’s own assumptions, as there is little, if any, related market activity. In instances where the determination of the fair value measurement is based on inputs from different levels of the fair value hierarchy, the level in the fair value hierarchy within which the entire fair value measurement falls is based on the lowest level input significant to the fair value measurement in its entirety. Our assessment of the significance of a particular input to the fair value measurement in its entirety requires judgment.

Cash Traded Investments

Cash Traded Investments

Our cash traded investments are generally classified within Level 1 or Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy because they are valued using quoted market prices, broker or dealer quotations, or alternative pricing sources with reasonable levels of price transparency.

Derivative Financial Instruments

Derivative Financial Instruments

We have entered into interest rate swap agreements to manage our exposure to fluctuations in interest rates. The valuation of these instruments is determined using widely accepted valuation techniques, including discounted cash flow analysis on the expected cash flows of each derivative. This analysis reflects the contractual terms of the derivatives, including the period to maturity, and uses observable market-based inputs, including interest rate curves and implied volatilities. We incorporate credit valuation adjustments to reflect both our own nonperformance risk and the respective counterparty’s nonperformance risk in the fair value measurements of these instruments.

Although we determined the majority of the inputs used to value our derivatives fall within Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy, the credit valuation adjustments associated with our derivatives utilize Level 3 inputs, such as estimates of current credit spreads to evaluate the likelihood of default by us and our counterparties. We assessed the significance of the impact of the credit valuation adjustments on the overall valuation of our derivative positions, and at September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017, we determined the credit valuation adjustments were not significant to the overall valuation of our derivatives.

Interest Rate Swaps [Member]

Interest Rate Swap Agreements

Interest Rate Swap Agreements

We have entered into interest rate swap agreements to manage our exposure to fluctuations in interest rates. These swap agreements involve the exchange of fixed and variable rate interest payments between two parties based on common notional principal amounts and maturity dates. Pay-fixed interest rate swaps effectively convert variable rate obligations to fixed interest rate obligations. The interest payments under these agreements are settled on a net basis. The net interest payments, based on the notional amounts in these agreements, generally match the timing of the related liabilities for the interest rate swap agreements which have been designated as cash flow hedges. The notional amounts of the swap agreements represent amounts used to calculate the exchange of cash flows and are not our assets or liabilities. Our credit risk related to these agreements is considered low because the swap agreements are with creditworthy financial institutions.