Obama's Healthcare Plan Is Big Bark, Small Bite by Jason Napodano, CFA

When President Obama's administration released the proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year, drug stocks quickly dropped. Fears of socialized medicine, or "Hillary-Care 2.0" turned investors away from the sector.

Was the drop warranted?

There are 6 key components to healthcare reform that could have a meaningful impact on pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in the near future.Four of these are potentially negative, whereas the other 2 are potentially positive.

First Potential Negative: Increasing Pricing Rebates

The new proposal calls for an increase in Medicaid rebates from the current level of 15% to 21%. This equates to a 6% decrease in pricing power by all the companies in our universe into the Medicaid market. If we delve deeper into the ramification of this

...

Owning healthcare stocks in an election year, especially one in which universal healthcare has taken center stage on the Democratic agenda, is not surprisingly a wild ride. With less than six months to go until our country chooses its next president, near-term headline risk for healthcare stocks should stay elevated for a while. That said, some healthcare names, most notably the health insurance providers, have seen their share prices get beaten down to levels that can’t help but get value investors’ attention.A perfect example is United Healthcare (UNH), one of the largest health insurance providers in the country. The combination of political risk and a recent acceleration in healthcare cost inflation have investors nervous. The stock has fallen from a high of more than $59 in December and hit a new 52 week low on Thursday, trading below $32 per share. This dramatic 45 percent decline leaves UNH ...