Acadia Healthcare (NASDAQ:ACHC) CFO Todd Young discussed the company’s operational priorities, policy headwinds, and cash flow outlook during a conversation at the Barclays Global Healthcare Conference. Young, who said he has been in the CFO role for “just over 4 months,” emphasized execution and occupancy as central themes for 2026 as the company works to ramp recently opened capacity and respond to payer and regulatory changes.
Leadership focus shifts to operations and filling new capacity
Young said the return of CEO Debbie Osteen has been “invigorating to the operators,” pointing to her decades of behavioral health experience, including more than 30 years at Universal Health Services running behavioral health, three years as Acadia’s CEO, and her return to the role. Young said Acadia has added 3,000 new beds across the country by the end of this year and framed the key opportunity as filling those beds while running facilities well from an operating perspective.
$200 million “embedded EBITDA” opportunity tied to new-bed ramp
Young said the company is focused on strengthening pre-opening activities and accelerating the timing of patient additions after openings. He also said occupancy at newer facilities is “behind,” and that Acadia has provided cohort curves comparing performance to history and expectations. He did not provide facility-by-facility occupancy details but said increasing inpatient occupancy is a primary focus because treating more patients drives revenue and profitability.
Volume outlook and demand trends across service lines
Discussing volume improvement and the company’s 2026 assumptions, Young said the approximately 4% growth referenced for 2026 (before considering the New York Medicaid impact) is driven by execution rather than a lack of demand. He described two growth levers:
- Expansion beds at existing facilities: Young said once a facility reaches roughly 75%–80% occupancy, it becomes harder to match patient needs to available bed types, and adding beds can improve throughput. He said expansions can leverage existing infrastructure and leadership and generally carry better contribution margins than building new facilities.
- Ramping newer cohorts: Young said the bed cohorts opened from 2023 to 2025 should improve and “lose less money in 2026 than they did in 2025,” contributing to volume and profitability.
On demand, Young said inpatient acute demand remains strong and “continues to grow,” and that the company does not view lack of demand as the driver of its challenges. For specialty services, he described reported trends as “noisy” due to facility closures last year, adding that specialty grew in the fourth quarter by “just under 4%” when factoring in closures.
Young also addressed the company’s Comprehensive Treatment Centers (CTC) opioid use treatment business, calling it a “very good business” with ongoing demand and an ability to find and treat additional patients. He emphasized an efficient operating model in which patients can receive medication quickly and are offered counseling.
Payer scrutiny, denials, and length-of-stay dynamics
Young said the company is working closely with payers amid increased audits and scrutiny, emphasizing the importance of documentation and advocating for patients. He noted that length of stay has been stable, while also cautioning that company-wide length of stay could contract due to mix shift as specialty patients (often longer than 25 days) are reduced relative to acute stays (typically 8 to 11 days). Young said bad debts and denials increased in 2025 and were reflected in fourth-quarter guidance, and that Acadia’s 2026 assumptions generally hold those fourth-quarter levels stable throughout the year, with both improvement opportunities and downside risk.
Asked whether the heightened utilization management is temporary or structural, Young said CEO Debbie Osteen views it as part of historical “cycles of behavioral health.” He added that Acadia is focusing on outcomes and has begun publishing outcomes on its websites, using the data with payers and referral sources to demonstrate value.
Policy headwinds: New York Medicaid and California staffing ratios
Young discussed two policy-related pressures embedded in the company’s 2026 outlook:
- New York Medicaid policy change: Young said New York’s decision not to pay for New York Medicaid patients treated at Acadia facilities in Pennsylvania represents a $25 million to $30 million EBITDA headwind in 2026. He said the affected facilities had been highly occupied and efficiently run, and that the company is moving urgently to rebuild referral pipelines and backfill beds. Young said Acadia was recently admitted to New Jersey’s Medicaid program and is looking to expand referrals, including from New Jersey and “greater Pennsylvania.” He also said the company hopes New York may reassess the policy given access-to-care needs and relative cost levels.
- California staffing requirement: Young said California mandated certain staffing ratios based on a skill matrix, with implementation delayed to June from an original end-of-January date. He said Acadia expects a $4 million EBITDA headwind in 2026 tied to replacing lower-skilled roles with higher-skilled nurses, without changing total headcount. He said the company does not expect to shut down beds and is implementing changes during late first quarter into second quarter to avoid occupancy impacts, with a smaller incremental cost expected in 2027.
Young also addressed professional liability and general liability (PLGL) expense, saying it rose by $61 million last year to $115 million. He attributed the change to a 186% increase in claims versus the prior year, higher settlement costs, and an $18 million increase in reserves for historic claims. He said the company does not expect that reserve adjustment to repeat in 2026, which is part of why guidance reflects about a $10 million decline at the midpoint, though he noted higher insurance costs and higher self-insurance retention levels (from $3 million in 2022 to $15 million currently). Young said he now reviews claims activity monthly with the legal team to compare experience with actuarial expectations and adjust faster if needed.
On capital deployment, Young said 2026 free cash flow guidance is “clean,” defined as operating cash flow less CapEx, including items excluded from adjusted EBITDA. He said the company expects about $100 million of legal and transactional costs embedded in operating cash flow assumptions and said guidance does not assume any settlement related to the ongoing DOJ investigation. Young said Acadia’s priority for discretionary cash is reducing debt, with a focus on executing and filling existing facilities rather than pursuing additional CapEx-driven bed growth.
About Acadia Healthcare (NASDAQ:ACHC)
Acadia Healthcare Company, Inc (NASDAQ: ACHC) is a publicly traded provider of behavioral healthcare services headquartered in Franklin, Tennessee. Founded in 2005, the company has grown through organic expansion and strategic acquisitions to establish itself as a leading specialist in mental health and addiction treatment across the United States.
Acadia operates a diversified network of inpatient psychiatric hospitals, residential treatment centers, outpatient clinics and intensive outpatient programs.
