TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - The Supreme Court's
decision Thursday to uphold President Barack Obama's historic overhaul
is expected to be a boom to most of the health care industry by making
coverage affordable for millions of uninsured Americans. But not every
company will benefit.
Drugmakers, biotech
companies, hospitals and insurers likely will get additional customers
because the law requires nearly everyone to have health insurance or pay
a fine. That's expected to bring coverage to about 30 million more
Americans.
Medical device makers,
meanwhile, will be hit with a sizable tax on their sales imposed under
the overhaul law, without expectations of boosting sales sharply.
Stocks of hospital companies rose sharply and
insurance companies fell after the ruling.
The stock of Hospital Corp.
of America, the largest private hospital chain in the United States,
rose a little more than seven percent. Quest Diagnostics, which runs
laboratories, rose almost three percent.
Gary Taylor, a financial
analyst for Citi Investment Research, wrote in a note to clients that
the ruling was "a surprise win for hospital companies," which stand to
benefit from tens of millions more people getting health insurance.
He cautioned that hospital
stocks could "erase all their gains" from the court decision if Mitt
Romney defeats Obama in the presidential election this fall. Romney has
pledged to repeal the law.
Insurance companies were
down sharply as analysts rushed to sort out the ruling. UnitedHealth
Group stock fell almost 3 percent, WellPoint 6 percent and Aetna 3.6
percent.
The broader stock market
was down a little more than 1 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average,
which was down about 100 points before the ruling came out at 10 a.m.
EDT, was down 160 points after the ruling.
Chief Justice John Roberts,
in a break with other conservative justices on the high court, sided
with the majority in allowing the law to go forward with its aim of
covering more than 30 million uninsured Americans.
Stocks of the largest drug
companies in the country were down but not heavily, in line with the
broader market. Stocks of medical device makers were also down about the
same as the broader market.
The court found problems with the law's expansion of Medicaid but said the expansion could proceed under certain conditions.
