Analysts: If Health Reform Fails, Expect More Industry Mergers

Main Category: Health Insurance / Medical Insurance
Also Included In: Pharma Industry / Biotech Industry; Public Health
Article Date: 09 Feb 2010 - 4:00 PDT

email to a friend

printer friendly

opinions

Current ratings for:
'Analysts: If Health Reform Fails, Expect More Industry Mergers'

Patient / Public:		1 (1 votes)
Healthcare Prof:

News outlets report on how the fate of the health care overhaul might affect health industry mergers and biotech firms.

BusinessWeek: "With Congress' sweeping overhaul of the health system stalled, industry will seek its own answers to a push by government and the private sector to rein in costs, said Curtis Lane, senior managing director at MTS Health Partners, a New York-based equity fund." An aging population will further increase health spending, and "[o]ne solution will be increased consolidation, with companies led by WellPoint Inc., the biggest U.S. insurer by enrollment, and Community Health Systems Inc., the largest publicly traded hospital chain, scooping up rivals unable to 'spread rising costs across fewer customers,' said Paul Keckley, of the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions" (Nussbaum and Tirrell, 2/8).

Star-Ledger/NJ.com reports that while some biotech firms, including a start-up called Soligenix, are thriving, many others in the industry are struggling. "The nation's economic downturn has dried up many of the usual sources of money the smallest drugmakers depend on to pay for their work. ... Now, the industry is banking on a little-known provision of the Senate's health care reform bill to help ease - at least, temporarily - its inability to raise money from the usual sources, namely venture capitalists and the financial markets. The provision, known as the Therapeutic Tax Credit, is intended to help companies with 250 or fewer employees pay the salaries of their scientists, continue their research and even hire workers to help the companies push out new medicines."

"Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), who pushed to include the amendment as part of health care reform, has said the provision also could be added to the Senate jobs bill" (Todd, 2/7).

This information was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at kaiserhealthnews.org.

Additional
References
Citations

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.
Visit our health insurance / medical insurance section for the latest news on this subject.

There are no references listed for this article.

Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report:

MLA

Kaiser. "Analysts: If Health Reform Fails, Expect More Industry Mergers." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 9 Feb. 2010. Web.
25 May. 2012. <http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/178569.php>

APA

Kaiser. (2010, February 9). "Analysts: If Health Reform Fails, Expect More Industry Mergers." Medical News Today. Retrieved from
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/178569.php.

Please note: If no author information is provided, the source is cited instead.

Rate article:
(Hover over the stars then click to rate)

Patient / Public:

Health Professional:

Add Your Opinion On This Article

'Analysts: If Health Reform Fails, Expect More Industry Mergers'

Please note that we publish your name, but we do not publish your email address. It is only used to let you know when your message is published. We do not use it for any other purpose. Please see our privacy policy for more information.

If you write about specific medications or operations, please do not name health care professionals by name.

All opinions are moderated before being included (to stop spam)

Contact Our News Editors

For any corrections of factual information, or to contact the editors please use our feedback form.

Please send any medical news or health news press releases to:

Note: Any medical information published on this website is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional. For more information, please read our terms and conditions.

Health Insurance / Medical Insurance

How To Find Private Health Insurance

Private health insurance is the main source of health coverage for the majority of people in the United States. Approximately 58% of all Americans have private health care coverage. Read more...

Follow Our Health Insurance News On Twitter

Get the latest news for this category delivered straight to your Twitter account. Simply visit our Health Insurance / Medical Insurance Twitter account and select the 'follow' option.

Conditions Information

View list of all 'What Is...' articles »

Your Name:*
E-mail Address:*
Your Opinion Title:*
Opinion:*
This is to help prevent SPAM submissions. Please enter the words exactly as they appear, including capital letters and punctuation.*