Jan. 10, 2020
J.P. Morgan
will kick off its 38th annual healthcare conference in San Francisco on Monday,
attracting some of the biggest names in healthcare across payers, providers,
tech and biopharma.
It's one of the
most influential conferences of the year, bringing together a who's who of
healthcare executives, investors and regulators for three days. As many as
9,000 attendees across 450 public and private companies are expected to make an
appearance, according to the investment bank.
This year is
poised to bring its own set of political and legal risks as the country creeps
closer to the presidential election and the legal threat to kill the
ACA looms, potentially by the Supreme Court. Democratic challengers to
President Donald Trump have made promises to overhaul the healthcare system to
varying degrees, many of which would represent substantial upheaval for the
industry.
Here are
Healthcare Dive's top companies to watch at #JPM20.
CVS
Health: CVS has made big waves over the past year as the retail behemoth
worked to integrate new payer asset Aetna, brought its wellness-focused
HealthHUB locations into a handful of new markets and
expanded its focus in prescription drug delivery and
chronic care management.
The
conglomerate continues to look for ways to capitalize on the overlap between
Aetna and CVS' retail hubs, which could guide it toward providing primary
care. CEO Larry Marlo has
said the company prefers to act as a "complement" to physicians.
But analysts warn not to rule out such a move amid potential disruption from
the likes of Amazon. And with CVS' heft, raking in $63 billion in revenue in
the third quarter of last year alone, there are few arenas out of its reach.
Intermountain
Healthcare: Last year, the Utah-based health system made good on its
promise to deliver generic drugs in
low supply to hospitals through the country through its Civica Rx
venture. Fed up with the high cost of drugs, Intermountain joined forces
with other health systems to provide more predictable pricing and access to
drugs for its member hospitals.
Civica Rx says
18 medications are now in production. With a willingness to disrupt the status
quo, the question now becomes, what's next for the venture and
Intermountain?
Tenet
Healthcare: The for-profit hospital operator has continued to trim its hospital portfolio and
make key investments in specific service lines and
outpatient services. Despite industry headwinds, Tenet reported admission gains
for three consecutive quarters (a feat other for-profit operators logged, too).
During a call
with investors in November, CEO Ron Rittenmeyer hinted the next move on
strategy would likely be discussed at the JPM conference, noting his board had
just finished a two-day strategy session.
Advocate Aurora
Health and Bon Secours Mercy Health: The two nonprofit systems are on
the heels of closing megamergers that created super regional systems. The deals
come as evidence that
mergers don't increase quality or lower costs continues to mount. It will be
interesting to hear whether these two talk about how they have benefited from
the mergers and what's next for them in terms of strategy and possible further
consolidation.
Humana: Its rivals have gotten
bigger through blockbuster mergers, raising questions about whether Humana may
be ripe for acquisition, especially given its large footprint in the lucrative
Medicare Advantage market. Humana commands the second largest market share of
MA members, according to data compiled by
the Kaiser Family Foundation. MA enrollment, now at more than 20 million
seniors, is expected to continue to grow as the population skews older. More
than 34% of Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in MA plans, according to
KFF.
CMS: At Wednesday's
keynote, Administrator Seema Verma is likely to speak on one of her
favorite topics by blasting "Medicare for All" proposals put forward
by Democratic presidential contenders.
Another key
topic for her agency right now is Medicaid expansion. More than three dozen
states have now agreed to some manner of expanding their rolls for the safety
net program, but controversial work requirements are still being challenged in
the courts. Verma has teased more deregulation for Medicaid, which could
include a long-held conservative hope of making it into a block grant system.
She could also
make the case behind the administration's push for more price transparency.
Providers and payers have heavily protested new regulations requiring
negotiated rates to be made public, but CMS hasn't backed down.
Mayo Clinic: Mayo,
named the top hospital for the fourth time in a row by U.S. News and World
Report, is continuing to expand geographically and its finances have shown
healthy growth as well. For the first three quarters of 2019, medical service
revenue climbed 8.9% and total revenue grew 8.1% compared to the year prior
while net income more than doubled.
The nonprofit
system could give an update on services abroad. It opened a clinic in London in
September and has announced an affiliation with the Saudi German Hospital in
Cairo. The organization has also formed a joint venture to launch 741-bed
Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City, a hospital in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, for
patients with serious or complex medical conditions.
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