Lower Medicare payments again dinged Lake Forest-based Apria Healthcare Group Inc. as the home healthcare provider said Wednesday its fourth-quarter profit fell 28%.
The good news: Apria sees 2006 profits coming in ahead of what analysts had expected.
For the fourth quarter, Apria said net income was $19.5 million. Sales were down 4.4% to $359.7 million.
Cuts in federal reimbursement on Apria’s breathing medications and equipment for patients in their homes drove down profits, Chief Executive Lawrence Higby said.
He and other Apria executives won’t be seeing salary increases or bonuses for 2005 because of the company’s performance, Higby said.
For the year, Apria said it expects to earn $88.2 million to $90.2 million. Analysts had been expecting the company to earn $87.2 million this year.
Apria and others could face more Medicare issues. President Bush has called for slowing growth in Medicare spending in his proposed budget for fiscal 2007.
