Health stocks plunge as uncertainty rises on Obamacare, Congress threatens action on drug prices

Health-care stocks were poised to end the week in the red on Friday after lawmakers on Capitol Hill threatened to write new laws tightening control over the nation's largest pharmacy benefit mangers to curb skyrocketing drug costs.

Executives from CVS Health, Cigna, Prime Therapeutics, Humana and UnitedHealth's OptumRx testified about rising prescription drug costs before the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday. The PBMs left the congressional hearing mostly unscathed but Chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, hinted the committee is ready to write new laws to bring down drug prices.

Separately, a federal appeals court in New Orleans said Wednesday it will hear arguments in July on a lawsuit backed by President Donald Trump to overturn Obamacare. Dismantling the health-care law would lead to 32 million more uninsured people in the U.S. by 2026, according to an estimate from the Congressional Budget Office.

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Amazon is moving into health care, its next big marketAmazon isn't the everything store -- yet. No thanks Please Read: Due to Risk, Mail Order Pharmacy Is NOT Your Next Netflix & Blockbuster ' With each shipment, the risk of the package being destroyed, mishandled, stolen or delayed is a real threat to a patient's health. ' There is this issue with standard delivery services used to transport our meds by mail. Mail-order pharmacy has risks & patients must be warned. Because UPS doesn't seem to care any more than the PBMs CVS ExpressScripts OptumRX that force us to mail.
Source: CNBC - 🏆 12. / 72 Read more »