Landmark Reform in U.S. Brings Mixed News
for Healthcare Industry
Scranton, PA – March 30, 2010 – MedTRACK, a leading database of private and public biomedical companies, is predicting mixed news for the healthcare industry in the wake of the U.S. healthcare reform bill.
Key reform measures in the bill will have an impact on society, private insurers, branded pharmaceuticals, and generics. Measures such as the individual mandate, premium subsidies, Part D donut hole discounts/closure, and the biosimilars approval pathway will have both positive and negative effects on these stakeholders.
At the society level, people can expect to see increased access to healthcare which will, in turn, create increased customer volume to private insurers. Unfortunately, it’s unlikely that expenditure growth can be contained facing this increase in market growth. Private insurers will also see a harsher competitive environment and lower profitability. Due to these changes in their business model, private insurers will seek out cost cutting and consolidation opportunities.
In the pharmaceutical industry, both branded and generics will experience volume growth. Generics, however, will face downward price pressures and later entry to market while branded pharmaceuticals will experience some hardships of their own. Reform measures will force branded pharma to endure greater cost-containment pressures along with drug discounts. The marketing activities of these companies will also suffer due to limitations the healthcare bill puts on marketing practices. |