Weekly Check-Up: Psych Hospitals and Dialysis Outperform; IDR Reform Stalls While Medicare Bills Advance; MA Insurers Face Pressure To Absorb GLP-1 Costs

For the week ended September 18th, healthcare services stocks were down 3.1%, worse than the S&P 500 (-0.1%) and the broader healthcare index (+2.0%). Psych Hospitals (+0.5%) and Dialysis (+0.3%) performed best, while Death Care (-5.8%) and Retail Pharmacy (-6.1%) lagged. Hospitals and Managed Care were down 2.3% and 2.9% for the week, respectively. Across coverage, OPCH (+3.5%) and AMN (+2.8%) performed best, while SGRY (-7.9%) and ALHC (-33.8%) lagged. The House Ways and Means Committee advanced three Medicare bills on Sept. 16 but did not reach agreement on changes to the No Surprises Act's independent dispute resolution process, leaving commercial insurers exposed to continued pressure from dispute volume and arbitration awards, while providers cite delayed or missed payments. The committee separately approved a measure requiring greater public reporting of Medicare spending and directing MedPAC to compare expenditures in MA with traditional Medicare. A strong start to the Medicare