The ACA has helped, not hurt, the health care industry

Winners: Health insurers. The stock price of Centene, a major Medicaid and ACA marketplace insurer, has multiplied by 12 times or 1,100%. Shares of UnitedHealth Group have jumped by more than 700%. Insurers weathered cuts to Medicare Advantage and new requirements forcing them to cover sick people, but in return they got millions of taxpayer-subsidized customers through Medicaid expansion and the individual marketplaces. Wall Street analysts say investors and companies were afraid the ACA was going to hurt the profitability of employer plans and Medicare Advantage. That never happened.