Obamacare Bringing Insurers, Hospitals Big Profits

Experts, insurers, and hospitals still don't have enough data to say if Obamacare is going to be good for the country, but two things seem certain thus far: hospital chains and insurers are raking in the dough while patients are paying higher costs for insurance.

Bloomberg reports that HCA Holdings Inc. (HCA), "the largest for-profit hospital chain," and WellPoint Inc., a for-profit healthcare insurance provider, both raised their forecasts after the two companies made record profits due, they assume, to Obamacare.

Another company, LifePoint Hospitals Inc., reports that their earnings increased $13 million in the second quarter this year.

"Obamacare's turned out to be quite good for health-care companies," healthcare investor Les Funtleyder told Bloomberg.

The business reporters went on to note that several other large healthcare companies, such as UnitedHealth Group, Inc., are also seeing higher profits.

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