MARKET SNAPSHOT: U.S. Stock Market Factors In Health-care Costs

By Kate Gibson

With health care likely to be a hotly debated topic on Capitol Hill and Wall Street for the foreseeable future, U.S. stock market observers on Thursday weighed the impact of possible reform on the bottom lines of U.S. households and public companies.

"The big question is whether investors have already factored in the implications of a significant health-care related tax increase into their estimates of consumer spending and corporate profits," Fred Dickson, chief market strategist at Davidson Companies, wrote in an early-Thursday note.

Speaking to a joint session of Congress, President Obama on Wednesday night threw his backing behind a government-run insurance option as one part of a broader plan.

On Thursday, the health-care sector was among those on the rise, along with the broader market. Up for a fifth consecutive session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) added 25.77 points to 9,572.99. The S&P 500 Index (SPX) gained 3.1 points to 1,036.47, while the Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) climbed 9.35 points to 2,069.84.

With the costs of employer-sponsored health soaring more than 100% in the past decade, experts in the aerospace and manufacturing sectors say the skyrocketing costs are hobbling growth and shareholder value.

Large-cap aerospace companies including Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC), Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT) and Rockwell Collins Inc. (COL) are among those seeing the cost of their health-care benefits spiking yearly at more than twice the rate of inflation. .

Another market strategist, Ed Yardeni of Yardeni Research Inc., said Obama's speech included fairly noncontroversial talking points that could be a starting point toward what he calls a reasonable compromise.

As Yardeni's list puts it:

* The health care system may work for many of us, but too many Americans aren't receiving sufficient care.

* Even if the system is working well for most of us now, it will be strained to accommodate the needs of retiring Baby Boomers.

* While health care isn't an entitlement, all citizens should have access to good care. It should be universal.

* Health insurance should be transportable. It should not be employer based.

* There should be a way to cover pre-existing conditions.

* Senior citizens should have adequate access to health care regardless of their age.

* Health care should be financed on a pay-as-you-go basis rather than through government deficits.

* We can't all have access to unlimited free care. There must be some limits imposed by the government or by the marketplace.