Managed care organizations see stocks fall due to political uncertainty

Health insurer stock in the S&P 500 Managed Care Index fell 4 percent April 11 after HHS Secretary Alex Azar asked large employers to ensure their employees get prescription drug rebates, according to Bloomberg.

The dip is the lowest the managed care index has fallen since Jan. 8. Losses were led by UnitedHealth Group, WellCare Health Plans and Centene Corp.

On April 11, Mr. Azar renewed calls for employers to make sure drug rebates are available at the pharmacy counter for their workers. HHS has proposed requiring Medicare Part D plans to do this.

"It's increasingly clear that both the Trump administration and Congress are eager to shine more light on healthcare pricing and change the system so that more of the rebates flow directly to the patient (or back-end rebates are eliminated in favor of front-end discounts)," Brian Rye, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst, told the publication in an email.

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