Someone Please Tell Healthcare That Obama’s Destroying It

Someone should tell healthcare that Obama is destroying it. In the four years since the Affordable Care Act (ACA) became law in March, 2010, the value of investments in the U.S. healthcare industry has grown by more than 100%, outpacing the total U.S. equities market, which has done pretty well itself.

The trend accelerated in 2013 as the time drew near to implement the major provisions of the law. And so it continues this year. In a hot market for Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) this year, the health sector is outpacing all others. Of 37 IPOs so far this year, 20 of them have been for health sector companies.

Money is also flowing into health-sector ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) at the fastest rate in six years. Among investors, concern that the ACA would damage the health sector has evaporated.

According to Les Funtleyde, a healthcare investor and analyst at Bluecloud Healthcare, “The ACA has kind of come and gone. It’s been implemented and nothing bad has happened to the companies by and large.”

No doubt, this boom in healthcare investments will fade. But the implementation of the ACA hasn’t killed it yet.

Click here to read more from USA Today and here to read more from Bloomberg.

Biotech Production, photograph © Bilfinger / flickr

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