Health Care Stocks Are Hot Again, Lobbyists Win!

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Health Care Insurance Company Stocks "On Fire!" – They’re Winning, We’re Losing



If you need a guide to the health reform debate in Washington, take a look at health insurance company stocks.

When the debate is going the right way – towards quality, affordable health care for everyone, towards getting people out from under the insurance industry’s crushing monopoly – insurance company stocks take a dive. When the debate is moving against what America wants – towards more private industry, less insurance regulations, and the like – health care stocks soar.

Right now, they’re soaring. The Indianapolis Star goes into more detail:

Shares of the Indianapolis-based health insurance giant surged to a 52-week high Thursday as the prospects for a new government-run "public option" health plan faded amid intense Senate debate. WellPoint rivals Cigna and UnitedHealth Group also hit 52-week highs.

It’s a sign, more than one observer suggested, of victory for private health insurers, which strenuously fought the Public Option.

"Obviously, the market thinks WellPoint’s a winner," said Daniel Evans, chief executive of Clarian Health, an Indianapolis-based hospital system. "If the public option is no longer on the table, then WellPoint is a winner because it’s not threatened by a government competitor."

Wall Street is what has turned our nation’s health care companies into profiteers.

16 years ago, before most of the insurance companies were publicly traded, they spent 95% of premium dollars on health care. That level is comparable to Medicare, which spends 97% of premium dollars on care. But once these companies went public and started trading on Wall Street, the relentless drive for profit drove down that percentage to where it sits today, at 81%.

Wall Street pressures directly caused insurance companies to deny more care. Wall Street accelerated the process by which insurance companies deny as much care as they can, which forces more people into bankruptcy (when they have to pay out of pocket for care their insurance company won’t cover) and leaves millions uninsured (if you’re bankrupt, it’s hard to pay premiums). And being uninsured can be a death sentence.

The way Wall Street responds to the health care debate drives these companies. When insurance company stock prices catch fire as the public health insurance option is killed in the Senate, you can bet that these companies are watching and feel supported in their effort to kill any and all health reform that would hurt their bottom line.

Wall Street-run health care is the driving reason that if the insurance companies win, we lose.

Wall Street run health care is making huge profits right now. It’s also making Americans sicker and sicker. A health care reform bill that does not take away Wall Street’s power – one without a public option, one that doesn’t mandate insurers spend 90% of their premiums on care, one without strict regulations on denying care or charging more to certain customers – will tacitly support the way the health care business works now, with Wall Street in charge.

The Senate bill, in too many ways, is the Wall Street bill. The House bill stands up to Wall Street. That’s presents real problems for the American people, problems that must be fixed before this bill is sent to the President’s desk.



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Sources: Firedoglake, The Indianapolis Star, MSNBC, Morning Joe Show, AP, Google Maps