One of the few things that everyone in Washington agrees on is that the health care crisis is a two-pronged problem: too many people are going without it, but it costs too much for those who do have it. The disagreement comes only when you try to fix the problemin particular, whether it's better to first tackle the supply-side or the cost-side. <\/p>\n
For investors who simply see enormous sums of money being spent, the problem is not about partisan battling as much as it's about risk and opportunity. Les Funtleyder, portfolio manager at Poliwogg and author of the book Healthcare Investing, is putting his chips on innovation and anything that can help to reduce cost. <\/p>\n
\"I'd rather invest on the side of the angels and short the reimbursement hogs, because they look like they have a giant bulls-eye on them,\" he says in the attached video. He cites testing labs and nursing homes as two sub-industries that ''over-utilize'' the Medicaid reimbursement system. <\/p>\n
As much uncertainty as there is surrounding Thursday's expected Supreme Court ruling on Obamacare, Funtleyder knows there's \"still lots to be done\" on the issue, such as striking a balance between what he calls volume (the amount of care) and price (the cost of services). <\/p>\n
He's also watching another area of opportunity, which has to deal with what he calls \"informational asymmetry.\" <\/p>\n
\"I can't tell you which hospital is best for which disease, and I can't tell you what product is best for what disease. We just don't know. There's a lack of information. It's not publicly available,\" he explains, then points out the absurdity of the situation. \"I mean, I can tell you the differences between a Corolla and Camry, but even I can't tell you the difference between a bypass and a stent.\" <\/p>\n
To be sure, the next round of health care legislation is likely to put much more emphasis on cost control, given that the industry has been growing ''at two or three times GDP\" for the past 40 years, and that only 5% of the population accounts for 50% of all health care spending. <\/p>\n
Of course, identifying the problem is the easy part. Fixing it is never going to be easyor cheap. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
More:<\/p>\n
Health Care Overhaul Will Crush \u2018Reimbursement Hogs\u2019 Says Expert<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" One of the few things that everyone in Washington agrees on is that the health care crisis is a two-pronged problem: too many people are going without it, but it costs too much for those who do have it. The disagreement comes only when you try to fix the problemin particular, whether it's better to first tackle the supply-side or the cost-side. For investors who simply see enormous sums of money being spent, the problem is not about partisan battling as much as it's about risk and opportunity Continue reading