Wednesday, August 5, 2015

ObamaCare's Biggest Winners: Big Insurers, Investors, Lawyers, Consultants & Tech Gurus

This story happens to be about two years old, but it is now even more true than when it was published as employers scramble to try and comply with PPACA's upcoming reporting requirements and the expansion of "small-group" underwriting to all sub 100-employee companies.

2016 is going to be administratively burdensome for all employers in complying with health reform.  For groups with under 100 employees, it will also be incredibly costly as we expect to see those sub one hundred employee groups have premiums escalate at two to three times the rate of larger groups.

From Lee Ross at Fox News:
While polling data suggests many Americans remain anxious and skeptical about ObamaCare, the early big winners of the president’s signature law include investors, lawyers, consultants and purveyors of new technology. 
Since March 23, 2010, when it was signed into law, the health care sector of stocks in the S&P 500 has increased in value by 50 percent. Gilead Sciences, a California-based drug maker with 5,000 workers, has seen its stock price explode by 157 percent in the last three and a half years. 
Health insurers Cigna, Aetna and United Health have each seen healthy gains since President Obama signed the reform measure. Those companies as well as hospital operators Tenet Healthcare and Health Management Associates have seen stock gains near or above the S&P's overall 41 percent jump. 
On a smaller scale, lawyers with expertise understanding ObamaCare are winners, too. 
Arthur Tacchino grew up near Philadelphia and says he always wanted to be a lawyer. He earned his law degree in 2010 and while some of his fellow graduates struggled to find work, Tacchino says he's fortunate to have stumbled into a job asking him to become an ObamaCare expert. 
Even though he didn't have an interest in health care, he's now taken his intricate knowledge of the law to the private sector, where he's part of a small team selling software programs to companies needing help managing the new law’s red tape. ...
"It's no secret to anyone that the mechanics of what has happened with ObamaCare have been driven by some very strong lobbying from the private industry," Dr. Sreedhar Potarazu, founder of VitalSpring Technologies Inc., told Fox News.
Some of the key behind-the-scenes players who helped write the law and draft regulations implementing ObamaCare are now lobbying on behalf of corporate clients.
Consulting companies, a frequent go-to resource for businesses who want outside expertise, have also beefed up their ObamaCare offerings. ...
One of ObamaCare's requirements is a mandate forcing doctors and hospitals to move towards electronic record keeping.  Shareholders in some of these firms have done quite well in recent years: Athena Health is up 180 percent and Cerner is up 110 percent since ObamaCare became law.
See full story and video.