Analysis: Hospital investors wary of slow rampup for Obamacare

By Lewis Krauskopf NEW YORK (Reuters) – Investors in U.S. hospital companies are counting on the Obama administration to pull off its national healthcare reform for 2014 to drive earnings growth, but a series of delays to the program has some questioning how strong the launch will be at its start. The stakes are particularly high for hospital operators, whose financial performance has been weighed down by poor and uninsured patients being unable to pay their bills. The healthcare law aims to expand health coverage to millions more Americans, who will be able to sign up beginning on October 1. …