Tainted Saints

Investors are seeing the Senate’s version of health care reform as a massive public subsidy for insurance companies — and as a result, are sending the sector’s stock prices shooting up, up, up. Stripped of a government-run insurance plan, the bill would give tens of millions of Americans no option but to start paying hefty premiums to private companies.

The rise in stock prices has been particularly striking in the period since Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) said on October 27 that he would filibuster a Senate health care reform bill if it included a public option – a threat that caused Senate leaders to cave without much of a fight.

Here’s a quick breakdown of major health insurance company stock performance from Oct. 27 to Friday’s market close:

• Coventry Health Care, Inc. is up 31.6 percent;  
• CIGNA Corp. is up 29.1 percent
• Aetna Inc. is up 27.1 percent;
• WellPoint, Inc. is up 26.6 percent;
• UnitedHealth Group Inc. is up 20.5 percent;
• And Humana Inc. is up 13.6 percent.

By comparsion, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is only up 2.3 percent during that time; the NASDAQ Composite is up a (relatively) paltry 1.4 percent.

Reuters noted the big bump Monday morning, after the bill passed the first critical test in the Senate:

“All in all, relative to the last version of health reform issued by the Senate, things have turned out pretty well for the health insurance industry,” said Carl McDonald, an analyst at Oppenheimer. “In particular, all versions of a government-run health plan have largely been eliminated.”

Thanks to Lieberman’s threat, health insurance companies dodged a major competitor that could have lowered margins, siphoned off customers and impacted profits.

Source: Google Finance

By comparsion, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is only up 2.3 percent during that time; the NASDAQ Composite is up a (relatively) paltry 1.4 percent.

Reuters noted the big bump Monday morning, after the bill passed.

[Despite all the adamant assurances that  the health insurance lobby had nothing to do with it...-Ed.]

The panel of 16 members, including two nurses and a researcher (but she had a PhD!) had not one single oncologist or anyone with a recorded history of treating cancer. Huh? How could this be, since the thrust of the panel was preventive medicine.

So who was one of the voices of this panel? None other than the ironically-named Dr. Diane Pettiti, M.D. Who is Dr. Diane Pettiti, MD? She is, to quote Michael Collins’ simple description, “a health policy and medical advisor for Kaiser Permanente of Southern California.” Kaiser Permanente? The people mentioned often in Michael Moore’s SiCKO, the largest health insurer in the country, the one that routinely shoves uninsured patients into cabs and leaves them wandering the streets of LA in the general vicinity of free clinics with the IV’s still in their arms?

The Kaiser Permanente who, under Richard Nixon in 1971, began to change the way HMO’s would cover their policy-holders, the one that became the soulless juggernaut prizing profits over the health of their policy-holders, the model for other HMOs to emulate over the next four decades?

That Kaiser Permanente?… [more...]

In a speech broadcast on Canadian television Tuesday, Michael Moore savaged the Democrats’ healthcare bill, calling it a gift to the health insurance industry, which he argues will make $70 billion more as a result of mandated health insurance.

“The health insurance companies are going to make an extra $70 billion dollars as a result of Americans being forced to buy their health insurance,” Moore quipped. “What company wouldn’t love this bill?”

Moore argues that the health insurance industry isn’t really upset about healthcare reform. His assertions — which mirror those of some on the left — highlight the challenge that Democrats in Congress face on healthcare reform. On the left, critics say that the bill doesn’t go far enough in ensuring universal care; on the right, critics say the proposal will lead to a government takeover of healthcare.

“So all of the wailing that they’re doing about this bill — believe me, the health insurance companies are not that upset about it,” Moore said. “In fact, they helped write this bill.” [more...]

Big Pharma was the real winner in last week’s shouting match between Obama and the insurance industry. Insurance execs took all the heat for attacking the White House’s health care reform plan after the administration and lawmakers had negotiated for months to craft a proposal that the industry could live with. Meanwhile, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the main industry umbrella group, got to play the good guy—all the while escaping scrutiny for the fact that in recent months it has been quietly jacking up drug prices…

Earlier this week, the health insurance lobby AHIP (America’s Health Insurance Plans) issued a false and dishonest report claiming that the Baucus health care bill would increase health care costs. Even the firm hired to do the analysis — PriceWaterhouseCoopers — backpedaled from the report’s conclusions. The insurance lobby’s strategy backfired as it appeared to alienate Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME), who voted with the Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee. But Republicans dutifully peddled the study to try to sink health reform. In his weekly address, President Obama struck back at the insurance lobby, calling them out for their deception and deceit…

Partial transcript and video…