Dive Brief:
- Louisville-based Humana and numerous other insurers saw their stocks tumble this week following a statement by Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in which she expressed reservations about the pending mergers between Aetna and Humana, as well as Anthem and Cigna.
- Humana saw the steepest drop, finding itself down 11.1% in two days.
- Experts suggest Clinton's warnings scared investors into dumping their health insurance stocks on the spot.
Dive Insight:
As of Thursday's mid-afternoon trading, Humana's 11.1% drop was in company with somewhat more moderate drops among its peers--all during a day that was overall good for other industries, notes Louisville Business First.
Clinton's comments appear to have carried significant weight as she argued consolidations among insurers and providers could be shifting the balance of power too far from consumers, and called on federal regulators to scrutinize the proposed deals closely.
"I am very skeptical of the claim that consumers will benefit from them because the evidence from careful studies shows that too often the companies end up pocketing profits rather than passing savings to consumers," Clinton stated. "These companies should commit to passing on savings and efficiencies to consumers as lower premiums and out-of-pocket costs."