GOP/HEALTHCARE: “Senate Republicans’ health overhaul carries big risks for many health-care companies because of its cutbacks to federal Medicaid funding and the uncertain impact of its broad changes to individual health-insurance markets.
The bill contains elements that will immediately be seen as wins for some companies—particularly the repeal of a tax on health-insurance plans and of a levy on medical devices, both of which have been strongly opposed by those businesses. But the proposed changes to Medicaid will be bad news, particularly over the long term, for hospitals and other health-care providers, as well as for insurers that manage Medicaid business, as those funds are curtailed, analysts and industry executives said.
‘These numbers are staggering,’ said Pamela Morris, chief executive of CareSource, a Medicaid-focused insurer, of the proposed Medicaid cutbacks. The states help finance Medicaid and are already squeezed, she said, and if the proposed federal cutbacks occur they would likely need to reduce eligibility and shrink payments to health-care providers under their Medicaid programs.”
-Anna Wilde Mathews and Melanie Evans, “Senate Bill Poses Risks to Health-Care Companies,” The Wall Street Journal online, June 22, 2017 04:38pm