September 8, 2025
Merit Medical (MMSI): Wrapsody Pass-Through Prospects
We remain skeptical of Merit Medical’s (MMSI) prospects for a Medicare hospital outpatient transitional pass-through (TPT) payment for its Wrapsody Cell Impermeable Endoprosthesis (CIE), following confirmation of its application last week, setting it up for…
September 5, 2025
IEEPA Trade and Tariff Conference Call Takeaways
With last Friday’s U.S. Court of Appeals ruling against President Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), we have the following takeaways from our trade and tariff conference call that we held…
September 3, 2025
Nursing Homes & DOJ’s Shot Across the Bow [ENSG, PACS, WELL, OHI, SBRA, LTC]
Tuesday’s announcement by the DOJ to join a 2016 False Claims Act (FCA) whistleblower lawsuit against non-profit ProMedica Health System and its HCR ManorCare nursing homes may represent a new front in attacking long-term care…
September 2, 2025
Capitol Policy Weekly: Trade, Defense, Govt. Spending and Nominations
With the House and Senate back in session this week, the focus will be on the fallout from Friday’s ruling to invalidate President Trump’s fentanyl and reciprocal tariffs, House passage of the National Defense Authorization…
September 2, 2025
Tools & NIH: House Rejects Trump But Targets Indirect Costs
We view the FY26 NIH funding bill released by the House Appropriations Committee last night, in advance of its markup at 5pm ET this afternoon, as positive for life science tools (LST) manufacturers, with both…
August 29, 2025
Tools: NIH Markup & Improving Award Outlays
With the House Appropriations health subcommittee announcing a markup of its FY26 HHS funding bill on Tues., Sept. 2 [available here], we maintain our view that topline funding numbers for NIH will likely remain flat…
August 27, 2025
Tariff Update: A Focus on Section 232 Tariffs
There are currently 9 official Section 232 investigations pending at the Department of Commerce with the furniture tariff investigation likely to become official within days, and we think more are forthcoming. If the Trump administration…
August 25, 2025
Court’s Stay of CMS’s Obamacare Rule Provisions Is Clear Positive Sign But Uncertain Policy Outlook Still Suggests Messy Sign-Up [OSCR, CNC, HCA, THC, UHS, HQY]
A federal district court’s ruling Friday to stay part of CMS’s Obamacare program integrity regulation is a positive development for exchange insurers [OSCR, CNC, ELV, MOH], hospitals [HCA, THC, CYH, ARDT, MPW, municipal-backed facilities] and…
August 23, 2025
Trade and Tariff Update with Aug. 1 Nearing
Before we get to our analysis below, we are hosting a trade conference call tentatively set for 11:00 am ET next Wednesday, July 30 with a leading trade specialist, Derek Scissors. Look for a conference…
August 21, 2025
Bureau of Labor Statistics: Can Investors Trust the Numbers Conference Call Takeaways
We hosted former Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) commissioner Bill Beach on a conference call yesterday to discuss the recent firing of Erika McEntarfer, President Trump’s new candidate for the position, and whether investors can…