rssHealth Reform: Good Deal or Bad Deal for Insurance Companies?
Tuesday, December 22, 2009 at 5:51 pm
- 11 Comments
Good deal, says Wall Street. Here’s The Associated Press, reporting yesterday on insurance company stock prices after the Senate bill cleared its first procedural hurdle:
Shares of Aetna rose $1.81, or 5.6 percent, to $34.32; Cigna gained $2.15, or 6 percent, to $37.95; Humana added $1.71, or 3.9 percent, to $45.24; UnitedHealth traded up $1.35, or 4.3 percent, to $32.89; Wellpoint Inc. jumped $2.19, or 3.8 percent, to $60.51. All hit 52-week highs, except for Humana, which was a little more than a dime short of its 12-month high.
Wellcare also rose $1.47, or 4 percent, to $38.41; Health Net rose 73 cents, or 3.1 percent, to $24.28; Molina rose 61 cents, or 2.7 percent, to $23.02; and Amerigroup rose 49 cents to $26.28. Wellcare and Health Net hit 52-week highs as well.
Nate Silver parsed these figures yesterday, reaching the verdict that they don’t necessarily mean that the industry’s profit margins would be higher under the bill, though millions more customers would increase the companies’ volume considerably. OK — fine. But it still means the industry will fare well (with more than $450 billion $430 billion in government subsidies thrown in for good measure). And it still means that the task of screening claims for medical services remains in the hands of the same folks who have a perverse economic incentive to deny those claims.
These are the rewards of spending millions lobbying Congress.
11 Comments
Pingback posted December 22, 2009 @ 5:55 pm
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Comment posted December 22, 2009 @ 5:56 pm
For a guy who is good with numbers, it's surprising that Nate is having a little trouble picking out the obvious one: “millions more customers.”
Pingback posted December 22, 2009 @ 6:41 pm
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Trackback posted December 22, 2009 @ 7:25 pm
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Pingback posted December 23, 2009 @ 12:48 am
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Comment posted December 23, 2009 @ 4:49 am
What other industry can write a new bill and have their “paid” flunkies (every congressman in both houses) pass it into law and “force” everyone in the nation to buy their product? They have done this several times in the past…seatbelts, airbags, even bankruptcy reform was the insurance industry
If the auto industry had this much power they would not be in this mess.
Comment posted December 23, 2009 @ 9:49 am
What other industry can write a new bill and have their “paid” flunkies (every congressman in both houses) pass it into law and “force” everyone in the nation to buy their product? They have done this several times in the past…seatbelts, airbags, even bankruptcy reform was the insurance industry.
We can end their power by enacting universal insurance for everyone like every other industrialized nation on earth. If you understood their profit margins you would understand why they have so much power….it's not just simple insurance (hospitals, banks, mortgage houses, drug companies, doctors, lawyers, the list goes on and all are Insurance Industry).
If the auto industry had this much power they would not be in this mess.
Comment posted June 30, 2010 @ 10:03 am
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Comment posted July 20, 2010 @ 8:21 pm
I think the new health reform makes it even more imperative to search around for the right Insurance Quote to suit your needs, which is good for all insurance companies in my opinion. I always stick with Farmers insurance since I haven't had any problems with my coverage for the last few years.
Pingback posted October 30, 2010 @ 4:32 pm
[...] 7.Health Reform: Good Deal or Bad Deal for Insurance Companies? « The Wellcare also rose $1.47, or 4 percent, to $38.41; Health Net rose 73 cents, or 3.1 percent, to $24.28; Molina rose 61 cents, or 2.7 percent, to $23.02; and Amerigroup rose 49 cents to $26.28. Wellcare and Health … CATEGORIES AND TAGS: Blog, Congress, Economy, Health Care, Congress, health care reform, insurance reform, http://washingtonindependent.com/71823/health-reform-good-deal-or-bad-deal-for-insurance-companies [...]
Comment posted April 20, 2011 @ 5:04 pm
To succeed in a law suit against an insurance company based on an unfair claim denial that may have resulted from some form of post claim underwriting, you have one point in your favor…….
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