Shares of Aetna Inc., UnitedHealth Group Inc., and WellPoint Inc. – the nation’s three largest health insurers with headquarters or major operations in Connecticut — slumped in early trading today as analysts said a report issued on a key U.S. Senate healthcare reform bill should give the legislation a boost, according to Reuters.
Nonpartisan budget analysts said that a Senate Finance Committee health plan would cost $829 billion and cut the budget deficit by $81 billion over 10 years, Reuters reported.
The bill would meet President Barack Obama’s desire for a healthcare plan that does not increase the deficit, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Shares of Aetna, UnitedHealth and WellPoint, parent of Anthem Blue Cross of Connecticut all were down more than 4 percent in mid-morning trading, bucking a positive overall market.
“The successful CBO score increases the likelihood that a reform bill will pass and it also strengthens the (Senate Finance Committee) bill’s position as the bill that will drive the debate,” Wells Fargo analyst Matt Perry said in a research note.
The share moves continued the declines since mid-September for health insurance stocks, which have proved extremely sensitive to reform developments in Washington.
“We continue to think managed care stocks will remain in flux until the ‘devils in the detail’ are resolved in final legislation,” Goldman Sachs analyst Matthew Borsch said in a research note.
