Gary W. Herschman and Kevin J. Ryan, Members of the Firm in the Health Care and Life Sciences practice, in the firm’s Newark and Chicago offices, co-authored an article in the Bloomberg BNA's Health Care Daily Report, titled “Health-Care Transactions Update: 2017 Year-to-Date.” (Read the full version – subscription required.)
Following is an excerpt (see below to download the full version in PDF format):
The health-care industry continued to experience uncertainty and volatility in the second quarter of 2017. In May, the House of Representatives passed legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. While the legislation represented a success for Republicans after failing to repeal and replace Obamacare earlier in the year, the bill faced scrutiny as headed to the Senate. A Senate bill that looked to put an end to months of health-care debate has now floundered leaving considerable uncertainty about what will come next.
Despite this rough terrain, the June transaction list shows that dealmakers were not encumbered by political noise. A year-to-date list shows that merger activity remained high in the second quarter of 2017 after a robust first quarter. Many players in the health-care market likely sought consolidation as a way to hedge risk as the future of Medicare and Medicaid spending remain unclear. …
Uncertainty continued to be the dominant theme in health-care markets this quarter. Doubt surrounding the future of the ACA incentivized providers of outpatient physician services, specifically orthopedics and eye care, to consolidate while ambiguity in the insurance space after two failed mega-mergers left more buyers on the table for the time being. The same uncertainty that drove merger activity in the second quarter of 2017 is expected to carry into a busy third quarter.
