Amedisys posts earnings below estimates, cuts forecast

Amedisys posted second-quarter profits of $21.7 million, or 75 cents per diluted share, as the Baton Rouge-based home health and hospice firm was hurt by new Medicare rules and reimbursement cuts. The earnings were down from $32.2 million, or $1.13 per diluted share, in the second quarter of 2010. On an adjusted basis, Amedisys earned 67 cents per share, 1 cent below what analysts forecast. The company had net service revenue of $373.7 million, below the $382.2 million that Thomson Reuters had forecast. Regulatory changes have caused doctors to start referring patients to other care settings instead of home healthcare providers. And attempts to cut the federal budget deficit led the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to propose a 3.35% rate cut to home health agencies, which would reduce reimbursements by $640 million. Amedisys has lowered its earnings outlook for the year to between $2.20 and $2.40 a share on net service revenue of $1.47 billion to $1.5 billion. Shares of Amedisys were down nearly 7.5% in midmorning trading, or more than $1.80, to about $22.80.