Hospital Stocks Jump After Obamacare Ruled Constitutional

by The Associated Press Jun 28th 2012 11:05AM
Hospital StocksBy DANIEL WAGNER

Stocks of hospital companies rose sharply Thursday after initial reports said the Supreme Court had upheld the individual insurance requirement in President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.

HCA Holdings stock rose 8%, and Community Health Systems stock also rose 8%.

Stocks of big insurance companies dropped sharply when the ruling came out shortly after 10 a.m. EDT, then climbed back somewhat. They were down about 1%, roughly the same as stocks in the broader market.

Stocks of drug companies and medical device makers were also slightly lower.

Chief Justice John Roberts announced the court's judgment, which allowed the law to go forward with its aim of covering more than 30 million uninsured Americans.

For more on the Affordable Care Act decision:

Supreme Court Health Care Decision: Individual Mandate Survives






Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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34 Comments

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craigmrfrn

When people say "THE Govenment" instead of "OUR government" it means football statistics are more important than knowing who votes for them and what they vote for.

June 29 2012 at 3:02 PM Report abuse +1 rate up rate down Reply
craigmrfrn

We need to start calling it Romneycare, after all he created it, and Obama ran with it. THANK YOU Mitt Romney!

June 29 2012 at 11:09 AM Report abuse +1 rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to craigmrfrn's comment
chris1011

"The Democrats are the party of government activism, the party that says government can make you richer, smarter, taller, and get the chickweed out of your lawn. Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work, and then get elected and prove it." —P.J. O'Rourke

June 29 2012 at 1:38 PM Report abuse -1 rate up rate down Reply
jstottle

Health care is not a privilege nor is it a right. It is a comodity that must be bought and paid for by somebody.

June 28 2012 at 6:40 PM Report abuse +1 rate up rate down Reply
chris1011

Republicans do not want to replace the affordable care act with anything really. They see health care as a privilege like flying on an air plane and not as a right. If one can not afford a first class ticket from New York to L.A., then one should not fly and this analogy applies to health care for Republicans. They do not care about people who lack insurance, about those with preexisting conditions, about the young who will no longer be allowed to be covered on their parent's policies.

June 28 2012 at 3:49 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
chris1011

Mr. Boehner......when are you going to keep your promise to create JOBS and improve the ECONOMY????

You promised that 3 years ago, but instead you have attacked women, now mad because people will be getting health care, and you don't seem interested in creating any jobs at all....what's with that? America wants JOBS......we got health insurance...MOVE ON.....and start CREATING SOME JOBS!

Obama just created a couple million MORE JOBS just yesterday when the Obama transportation bill was approved, which will IMMEDIATELY put construction workers on the job fixing roads, bridges...THANKS AGAIN PRESIDENT OBAMA!

Not a great day in Tea party land......ALL of their lawsuits FAILED.....immigration, health care, birther, ALL OF THEM! LOSERS!

June 28 2012 at 3:48 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to chris1011's comment
chris1011

Aaaand - Americans won't vote for losers come November!

June 28 2012 at 3:59 PM Report abuse -2 rate up rate down Reply
chris1011

Read it and weep, Baggers, hehehehe:

John Boehner in a Press Release has this to say... "The Republican Party welcomes this decision by the Supreme Court. We weren't quite sure how to dodge the question of Jobs and the Economy and were running out of distractions. By giving us this gift of upholding Obamacare, which is really our idea and just Romneycare in a new suit of clothes, we are able to continue ignoring what is really important to the American People, namely Jobs and the Economy, by throwing up a smoke screen of attempting to fruitlessly repeal this horrendous (our idea) legislation."

June 28 2012 at 3:46 PM Report abuse -1 rate up rate down Reply
dus48

now its done and we will pay dearly for this.reality of all this is individual states will have the burden to pay for everything.allready california is reeling under debt crisis.this is going to happen across the board.but all this will take effect four years from now.think about that.madates do take a long time to be implemented.

June 28 2012 at 1:42 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to dus48's comment
itacurubi

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June 29 2012 at 9:57 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
maxcher

Terrible decision by the Supreme Court!!! Look forward to more taxes, more government, more red tape, and less money in your pocket and a bankruptes USA.

June 28 2012 at 12:49 PM Report abuse +2 rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to maxcher's comment
indisposed99999

Its the correct decision, based on the constitution. Just because something is a bad idea doesn't make it constitutional.

The law is poorly designed, no intelligent person with more than a 5th grade comprehension of economics can argue otherwise. However, the court got every salient constitutional point correct:

1. There are limits to what congress can regulate under teh commerce clause. Prior to this ruling, that limit was "anything you buy or sell". The individual mandate would force you to buy something in order to regulate it. The majority drew the line at regulating economic "inactivity". That makes perfect sense to most legal scholars.

2. The power to tax is broader than the commerce clause. If congress can offer tax credits to induce behavior, then it can offer tax penalties for the same purpose.

In sum, its a bad law, but the court got it right.

June 28 2012 at 12:55 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to indisposed99999's comment
itacurubi

Let's see. I have a graduate degree from what some have called "The West Point of Capitalism" and i don't find Obamacare to be manifestly poor in design ... at least with the mandate intact. Perhap I ought to have terminated my economics education earlier. (BTW: When did economics become part of the 5th grade curriculum?)

June 29 2012 at 10:03 AM Report abuse rate up rate down
usapaydirt

That was quick , now you can see who the only ones to benefit from this will be , that is at least until it's over turned anyway as it will be the number one priority to do so since many won't be able to bear the cost.......

June 28 2012 at 12:46 PM Report abuse +2 rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to usapaydirt's comment
chris1011

Repeal, tear down, stop, get rid of, strike down. Is this the only thing republicans know how to do. Nothing ever positive, doom and gloom. Trying to move this country forward for the last 3 1/2 years with all the mess the republicans have made and they can't even help clean it up.

June 28 2012 at 3:51 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
indisposed99999

wscottdunc
Somehow this ruling benefits the rich in this country or it would not have happened. It does'nt matter if its a Republican or Democratic president its all for show. The rich corporations run this country and they pay for the rules. Nothing will get better until we have universal health care coverage like the other industrialized countries and greedy pharmaceutical companies are brought under control. We already pay more than double what other countries pay for medicines and health care charges are perversely inflated. 70% of bankruptcy in this country is due to health care charges.
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First off, the 70% number you cited is actually 62% according to the study by Harvard researchers, and it is linked NOT to health care charges, but rather medical problems. In other words, its NOT BEING ABLE TO WORK, not the costs of the care itself. The same study found that 78% of those filing for personal bankruptcy had medical insurance at the time they filed (60% had private insurance, the rest had Medicare or Medicaid). Here's a link summarizing the study itself: http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/jun2009/db2009064_666715.htm.

So, having PROVEN that you haven't the first f'in clue what you are talking about, lets turn to the rest of your post. We don't pay double for medical costs, we pay twice the amount per capita. That is a big difference. 40% of all health care expenses in this country are incurred by 1% of the population.

"Greedy" pharmaceutical companies have more to do with extending human life expectancy on this planet than any other industry, government or invention since the discovery of "germs" themselves. By contrast, what have you done for the world?

You are a classic example of why this country is headed in the wrong direction. You are woefully ignorant of basic facts associated with an issue, yet you have no hesitation in offering your "opinion" on what needs to be done. In the past, societal norms kept the ignorant from voicing their opinions....

June 28 2012 at 12:35 PM Report abuse +2 rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to indisposed99999's comment
indisposed99999

BTW, fewer than 1 in 500 persons filing for personal bankruptcy listed medical expenses as their LARGEST SINGLE debt. In other words, the number of people being forced into bankruptcy by a lack of insurance leading to high medical bills is closer to 0.2%, not 70%.

So, you were only off by a factor of 350,000%. But who's counting?

June 28 2012 at 12:43 PM Report abuse +3 rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to indisposed99999's comment
Setanta

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June 28 2012 at 2:44 PM Report abuse rate up rate down