9 Policy Catalysts For Health Care Investors To Watch Before Year's End

Health care investors are entering both the final stretch of 2018 and the final weeks of a GOP-controlled House of Representatives. Height Capital Markets analyst Andrea Harris surveyed nine potential health care catalysts that investors should be watching between now and the end of December in a recent note. 

Of the nine potential legislative catalysts ahead in the next month, Harris said she expects two of them to pass: measures that would financially impact Roche Holdings AG Basel ADR Common Stock (OTC: RHHBY), Sanofi SA (NYSE: SNY), Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd (OTC: TKPYY), Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE: MRK), Cardinal Health Inc (NYSE: CAH), GlaxoSmithKline plc (NYSE: GSK), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), and Procter & Gamble Co (NYSE: PG).

Two Imminent Measures

“We believe that a reauthorization of the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act (S. 2852) and the Over-the-Counter Monograph Safety, Innovation, and Reform Act of 2018 (H.R. 5333) stand the best chance of passage this year,” Harris said. 

Other key pieces of health care legislation might still make it through in 2019 as well, the analyst said. 

“We further believe that legislation to address health care taxes (device tax, Cadillac tax and the health insurer fee) and drug pricing legislation (BBA fix, TrOOP cliff fix, and CREATES Act) are possible to enact in 2018, but Congress will more likely address these issues in 2019." 

Other Impacted Stocks

Other pieces of legislation could impact additional companies, Harris said: 

• Anthem Inc (NYSE: ANTM)
• Aetna Inc (NYSE: AET)
• CIGNA Corporation (NYSE: CI)
• Humana Inc (NYSE: HUM)
• Centene Corp (NYSE: CNC)
• Molina Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE: MOH)
• UnitedHealth Group Inc (NYSE: UNH)
• WellCare Health Plans, Inc. (NYSE: WCG)
• Becton Dickinson and Co (NYSE: BDX)
• Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX)
• Edwards Lifesciences Corp (NYSE: EW)
• Medtronic PLC (NYSE: MDT)
• Stryker Corporation (NYSE: SYK)
• Mylan NV (NASDAQ: MYL)
• Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd ADR (NYSE: TEVA)
• Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ: CELG)
• Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD)
• Amgen, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN)
• AbbVie Inc (NYSE: ABBV)
• Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE)
• Healthequity Inc (NASDAQ: HQY)
• UnitedHealth Group Inc (NYSE: UNH)
• Webster Financial Corporation (NYSE: WBS)

The Height Capital chart below indicates which legislative measures the firm believes are likely to pass and which specific stocks could be impacted:

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