Health Care Services

摘要

It was another sick year for health care services, as hospitals, HMOs and nursing homes all came under pressure to adapt to significant changes in Medicare funding and reimbursement systems. Managed-care stocks climbed 15% last year, but hospital stocks were off an average 22% and long-term-care providers were off 56%. Mergers and acquisitions slowed in the hmo sector but remained brisk in long-term care, with more than $10 billion in deals.