Dive Brief:
- Donald Trump carved out a victory in the U.S. presidential election on Tuesday.
- Republicans also retained control of the House of Representatives and the Senate.
- The victory means tough times are ahead for the Affordable Care Act, which Trump railed against during his campaign.
Dive Insight:
Republicans love to hate the law commonly known as Obamacare – the legislation that allowed 20 million individuals to gain health coverage and allow the U.S. to experience historically low uninsured rates – and now it looks like they may actually have a chance to repeal or roll back the law.
While Speaker Paul Ryan (R - WI) released an outline of a replacement plan in June, it's still uncertain what shape Trump's plans may hold for the ACA. He has called for the allowance of insurers to sell plans across state lines in hopes to increase competition.
On the hospital front, Stat's Casey Ross notes Trump has stumped for billing transparency. "Many providers are already estimating prices for consumers, and the president-elect has not proposed a specific measure to accelerate those efforts," Ross wrote.
The New York Times reported as a Trump victory seemed imminent, "[g]lobal investors initially reacted as if the world had caught fire. They yanked their money from the marketplace in an unrestrained bout of selling reminiscent of the outbreak of war."
Politico's Adam Cancryn tweeted the performance of some healthcare stocks on Wednesday:
Hospital stocks at the open:$UHS: -13%$THC: -25%$HCA: -13%$CYH: -19%
— Adam Cancryn (@adamcancryn) November 9, 2016
Aetna, Molina and Cigna's stock also fell while Humana's stock rose slightly at the open of business on Wednesday.
How will the Trump victory impact other industries? Here's what we know abo