Last Week’s Health Care Rout Shows That Politics Aren’t On The Backburner For Investors Like Some Had Thought
Experts say that the market fluctuations aren't going anywhere any time soon. In other health industry news: executives' pay, refinancing, the dental care industry, and more.
Bloomberg:
Goldman Says How To Avoid Policy-Risk Woes In Health Stocks
U.S. health-care stocks have shown that potential policy changes from the 2020 election are already on the minds of investors. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has a few ideas about how to navigate such a tricky environment. Investors who had been putting concerns about policy risk on the back burner, thinking election season was too far in the future to matter yet, all of a sudden had to focus on it again as of last week. (Ossinger, 4/25)
The Star Tribune:
UnitedHealth Group's Hemsley Sees $65.6 Million In Pay
A Star Tribune analysis shows that options exercised plus newly vested stock awards pumped up 2018 compensation to $65.6 million last year for Stephen Hemsley, the executive chairman at UnitedHealth Group. In September 2017, Hemsley shifted from his previous job as chief executive to the executive chairman position at Minnetonka-based UnitedHealth, which is Minnesota’s largest company and runs UnitedHealthcare, the nation’s largest health insurer. (Snowbeck, 4/25)
Modern Healthcare:
CommonSpirit Health May Refinance Billions In Debt
Newly-formed CommonSpirit Health is gearing up to make a big splash in bond markets, preparing to restructure or refinance billions in debt. In the more than two years Catholic Health Initiatives and Dignity Health worked to cement their merger to form the new Chicago-based health system, both systems avoided public debt markets. This week, CommonSpirit announced that it may restructure or refinance its roughly $13.7 billion in outstanding debt as it moves to merge into a single credit group. (Bannow, 4/25)
Kaiser Health News:
Patients Caught In Middle Of Fight Between Health Care Behemoths
Cancer survivors Evalyn Bodick, 74, and Barbara Marsic, 63, are caught in the crossfire of one of the fiercest health care fights in the country. They fear they are about to lose access to the doctors they say have kept them alive. The reason: the latest skirmish in a nearly decade-old battle between two large health systems in Pennsylvania, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) and Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield. Both are nonprofit and both sell health insurance as well as provide care. Only a handful of companies nationwide do both. (Findlay, 4/25)
Modern Healthcare:
CommonSpirit Health May Refinance Billions In Debt
Newly-formed CommonSpirit Health is gearing up to make a big splash in bond markets, preparing to restructure or refinance billions in debt.In the more than two years Catholic Health Initiatives and Dignity Health worked to cement their merger to form the new Chicago-based health system, both systems avoided public debt markets. This week, CommonSpirit announced that it may restructure or refinance its roughly $13.7 billion in outstanding debt as it moves to merge into a single credit group. (Bannow, 4/25)
The Associated Press:
CVS Moves Into Dental Care With Teeth-Straightening Service
CVS Health is venturing into dental care with plans to offer a relatively new teeth-straightening service. The drugstore chain said Thursday that it will add SmileDirectClub locations to hundreds of its stores, where customers can get started on getting their teeth straightened without an in-person visit with a dentist or orthodontist. That lack of an office visit has drawn criticism from orthodontists. (4/25)
