The biggest winner in the historic health reform bill that passed the House late last night are millions of uninsured Americans who are unable to afford coverage or have been denied coverage because they suffer from chronic disease. Parsing what the legislation means to industry will take months. But among big businesses, Pfizer, Amgen and other big drug companies are emerging as big winners. Drug companies supported health reform and in return will gain access to millions of more customers who suddenly can afford to pay for $100,000 a year cancer drugs. Biotech companies gained an extra layer of protection for protein based drugs from potential generic competition. The industry avoided its worst fear: price controls or other new government drug price negotiations. The situation is more complicated for HMOs and insurers like UnitedHealth, Wellpoint, and Aetna. They also avoided their worst nightmare, a big public plan that would directly compete with their private plans. That's the good news. The bad: some companies will get hit hard by cuts to Medicare Advantage, while others, like Wellpoint, could lose market share in the individual insurance market. Safe Harbor Statement: Some forward looking statements on projections, estimates, expectations & outlook are included to enable a better comprehension of the Company prospects. Actual results may, however, differ materially from those stated on account of factors such as changes in government regulations, tax regimes, economic developments within India and the countries within which the Company conducts its business, exchange rate and interest rate movements, impact of competing products and their pricing, product demand and supply constraints. Nothing in this article is, or should be construed as, investment advice. |
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