Affordable Care Act Good for Health Care REITs

It's been awhile since we've blogged anything, which must mean we're busy, right?  Maybe this is why ...

Obamacare is a good thing for health real estate trusts, executive says

March 18, 2014, 12:05 PM

 By Russ Britt

   
One of the side effects of the Affordable Care Act is that it’s forcing the medical community to become more efficient, and that’s a good thing for health care real estate investment trusts.
At least that’s the perspective from Scott Peters, chief executive of Healthcare Trust of America  /quotes/zigman/10379386/delayed /quotes/nls/hta HTA +1.12% , who says Obamacare is a “positive development” in a radio interview with MarketWatch’s Alisa Parenti. (The radio player is above, or you can follow the link to our MarketWatch radio page.)

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“I think it is a game changer,” Peters said, calling it a “huge macroeconomic driver.”
Peters points out that Obamacare emphasizes preventive medicine. Translation: more office visits to doctors and a higher rate of occupancy at medical plazas. His company is seeing a 91.6% occupancy rate at the properties it owns.
Healthcare Trust has been public since June 2012 and currently is trading in the $11 range. Shares were down marginally to $11.40 in recent action.