Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Hargrove / Legislature NHC Says It's Struggling Under Frivolous Lawsuits, Fat Dividends Otherwise
Posted by Brantley Hargrove on Wed, May 6, 2009 at 11:30 AM
click to enlarge
So have lawmakers like Sen. Jim Tracy (R-Shelbyville), Rep. John Lundberg (R-Bristol), Rep. Jason Mumpower (R-Bristol) and Sen. Thelma Harper (D-Nashville) just been hoodwinked by National HealthCare Corp. and ChooseCare TN, the proponents of the Kill Old People Cheap Act?
Before sponsoring this bill did they simply fail to check the vitals of companies like NHC to ensure that they are, in fact, struggling beneath the weight of punitive damages scored by out-of-state lawyers for victims of nursing home abuse and neglect? Apparently not.
Thankfully the bill failed to make it out of committee this year, but while they're cheerleading an industry move to let nursing homes get out of trouble on the cheap, the industry's doing booming business. Case in point: NHC. The company reported a 16.9 percent increase in net income available to common shareholders for the quarter ending Mar. 31 compared to last year, according to Business Wire. That's more than a $1 million increase.
