Critical information for the U.S. trading day
It’s Friday the 13th, and the bears surely are ready to see our relentless bull market finally run into a bit of bad luck.
The edifice of Obamacare certainly looks haunted, with the Trump administration poised to cut off key payments to health insurers that are worth billions. That would follow yesterday’s executive order that gives a shot in the arm to low-cost plans that are not subject to the Affordable Care Act’s rules.
“Trump is going to kill Obamacare, and there is nothing you can do about it,” writes iBankCoin blogger The Fly in his not-at-all-understated take on the turn of events.
The former Wall Street broker says he’s neutral on ACA and “would prefer that the insurance and drug rackets be punished to hell via rigorous restrictions,” but he then reveals his cold-blooded trader streak. The main thing now is how to play the 45th president’s push to undo what No. 44 wrought, The Fly says, delivering our call of the day.
“What is relevant,” he writes, “is the way we might profit from it. Might I interest you in a little HIIQ?”
He’s not alone in sounding bullish about Health Insurance Innovations Inc. HIIQ, +4.02% , which sells short-term policies. The executive order urges regulators to stop capping the duration of short-term plans at three months, and that’s good news for companies selling such products, insurance-industry consultant Raj Bal tells The Wall Street Journal
“Clearly, for the short-term players it’s a winner,” Bal says. A longer duration “makes a huge difference in terms of the appeal of the product.”
In addition to Health Insurance Innovations — whose CEO basically said the cap attack was just what the doctor ordered — UnitedHealth Group UNH, -0.57% could see upside, as it sells short-term policies, the Journal report notes.
Possible losers include Centene CNC, -2.47% , Molina Healthcare MOH, -0.25% and other insurers that could lose healthy ACA enrollees to new plans that are cheaper but less comprehensive.