ACA has helped healthcare stocks boom

The Affordable Care Act has helped launch healthcare stocks into the stratosphere over the last eight years, contrary to what some critics of the healthcare law believed would happen.

In fact, healthcare companies have made out better in terms of their stock performance compared to the broader market, according to Axios.

Since the ACA became law, the S&P 500 healthcare index has jumped 168 percent, compared to the S&P 500’s increase of 141 percent and the Dow Jones’ gain of 139 percent, Axios reported. The S&P 500 healthcare index tracks the stock of 63 major healthcare companies, including health insurance providers such as Aetna, Cigna, Humana and more.

Some healthcare insurance providers are the net winners over the last several years, with the stock price of Medicaid and ACA insurer Centene jumping 1,100 percent. UnitedHealth Group has also seen its stock jump 700 percent.

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Amy Baxter

Amy joined TriMed Media as a Senior Writer for HealthExec after covering home care for three years. When not writing about all things healthcare, she fulfills her lifelong dream of becoming a pirate by sailing in regattas and enjoying rum. Fun fact: she sailed 333 miles across Lake Michigan in the Chicago Yacht Club "Race to Mackinac."

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