Envision Healthcare considering bankruptcy

Envision Healthcare, a Nashville-based healthcare staffing company owned by KKR, is considering a bankruptcy filing, per Bloomberg. A source says no such decision is imminent, as Envision continues to restructure its $7.5 billion debt-load (it recently exchanged $725 million of its $1.75 billion in unsecured notes).

Why it matters: This is a high-profile example of the cash-crunch felt by all sorts of medical groups, due to the sharp drops in everything from elective surgeries to ER visits to preventative care appointments.

• It also comes after Envision, which has become synonymous with controversial billing tactics, received an undisclosed amount of federal bailout money, via a provision of the CARES Act.
• History: KKR took Envision private in 2018 for $9.9 billion, including assumed debt, after it recorded a $228 million loss in 2017 on $7.8 billion in revenue.

The bottom line: "Elective surgeries that Envision provides are among the most lucrative medical procedures, while intensive care, which COVID-19 patients require, is far more expensive. Envision’s business of staffing emergency rooms has also suffered because it gets compensated per visit rather than for the time patients spent there. As a result, the typical two-week period that many COVID-19 patients spend in intensive care is a further drag on Envision’s revenue." — Reuters