Health Care Falls After ACA Repeal Fails - Health Care Roundup

Shares of health-care companies declined as Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act crashed and burned, but left the future of health-insurance exchanges in doubt. Sen. John McCain of Arizona cast the decisive vote in dramatic fashion early Friday, indicating with a thumbs-down that the "skinny repeal" bill was to be put to the sword. Health insurers, who had already been pressing for legislation aimed at stabilizing the marketplaces created by President Barack Obama's health law, are likely to push all the harder now that repeal is apparently off the table. To prevent a spike in prices and reduction in service for many states' health-care markets in 2018, time is of the essence, according to one insurance official. "We really are right now up against it, as far as the deadline is concerned," said Gary Cohen, a vice president at Blue Shield of California.

-Rob Curran, rob.curran@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 28, 2017 16:32 ET (20:32 GMT)