The midterm elections and their ensuing divided Congress could affect health insurance stocks in coming months, according to an article on investor website TheStreet.com.
President Obama’s healthcare reform, signed into law earlier this year, was a prime target of the Republican Party during the recent campaign.
While the GOP likely won’t be able to repeal the law any time soon, the party could have enough power to fight portions of it at the state level and cause problems for the insurance industry, according to the article.
Orange County isn’t home to any big insurers. But UnitedHealth Group Inc. of suburban Minneapolis has more than 3,000 workers in the county after its 2005 purchase of Cypress-based PacifiCare Health Systems Inc.
Some analysts have said that uncertainty about how Republicans may go about trying to repeal or defund the healthcare bill appears to be holding investors back, according to the article.
“Republicans may talk about repealing the (law), but they don’t have the majority of the votes to do that,” said Matthew Coffina, an analyst with Chicago-based Morningstar Research Inc. “If they take out parts of (it), it will all fall apart.”
If funding for healthcare reform isn’t provided, “It will just create a mess for the states that can’t afford to do it on their own and cause consumer disruption,” Coffina said.
Paul, Hastings, Janofsky and Walker LLP partner James Owens told TheStreet that it was “highly doubtful” that Republicans would be able to pull funding from the healthcare bill because a majority of it is already in place.
TheStreet predicted that the GOP could make political headway on reform at the state level, noting that several Republican state attorneys general already are looking at ways to disrupt healthcare reform in their respective states.
“More impactful to insurers is what is happening at the state level to the extent that favors managed care companies,” said Les Funtleyder, a portfolio manager and healthcare strategist with New York-based Miller, Tabak & Co. “If you have a Republican state governor then that will be helpful to them.”
Bausch & Lomb Hires
Bausch & Lomb Surgical, an Aliso Viejo-based unit of Bausch & Lomb Inc., expanded its management team with three hires.
Brad Paddock was brought on as vice president of sales. His career includes stops at Ethicon, which now is a unit of Johnson & Johnson, and Kyphon Inc., a maker of devices used in spinal surgery that Medtronic Inc. bought in 2008.
Anthony Sine has been hired as vice president of business development.
Sine is a lawyer who most recently was with Irvine drug maker Allergan Inc. as senior corporate counsel and assistant secretary.
Elisabeth Sandoval came on as vice president of global marketing.
Sandoval also comes from Allergan, where she was vice president of global strategic marketing of Allergan Medical, the unit formerly run by Robert Grant, Bausch & Lomb Surgical’s president. She also worked with Ethicon in research and development before moving to Allergan.
Grant recently was elected to the board of MyoScience Inc., a Redwood City-based company that’s developing a medical device to relax facial muscles that cause wrinkles to form.
MyoScience says its treatment could be an alternative for people who are resistant to neurotoxins, which are found in wrinkle remover Botox from Allergan.
Medical Office Condos Sold
Central Drugs Compounding Pharmacy of La Habra has bought three Fullerton medical office condominiums for $1.46 million.
Accretive Realty Advisors Inc. of Irvine sold the buildings to Central Drugs, which is owned by Nayan Patel, a doctor.
The three condos have a total of 3,000 square feet of space and are at 1955 Sunny Crest Drive. They are within the Providence Medical Center, a 110,000-square-foot medical complex that’s near St. Jude Medical Center.
John Wadsworth and Casey Immel from the Irvine office of Colliers International, represented Accretive. John Collins of Lee & Associates’ Newport Beach office represented Central Drugs.
Bits and Pieces
Renaissance Surgical Arts at Newport Harbor, an outpatient surgical center, opened in Costa Mesa. Specialties include cardiology, ear, nose and throat surgery, neurosurgery and plastic and reconstructive surgery. Los Angeles-based Congero Development LLC developed Renaissance, which is primarily owned by doctors … Fountain Valley Regional Hospital and Medical Center said it introduced a program that allows patients to schedule emergency room appointments online for non-life-threatening conditions. The program was developed by InQuickER of Atlanta.
