Health care stocks rise after Dems drop public option

From Reuters:

Shares of U.S. health insurers rose on Wednesday after efforts to overhaul the health system moved away from creating a government-run insurance plan long viewed as damaging to the industry.

However, gains may have been held back as analysts said new measures that would expand the Medicare government plan to younger adults and require insurers to spend a certain amount of premiums on medical costs presented new potential risks.

Senate Democratic healthcare negotiators agreed late on Tuesday to replace a government insurance option with a scaled-back non-profit plan.

The S&P Managed Healthcare index (^GSPHMO – News) of larger U.S. health insurers rose 1.3 percent, compared to a 0.6 percent drop for the broader S&P 500 index (^SPX – News). UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH – News) increased 1.7 percent, Aetna Inc (NYSE:AET – News) rose 1.3 percent and Humana Inc (NYSE:HUM – News) climbed 1.1 percent.

Full Story Health care stocks rise after Dems drop public option | Raw Story.