Bedeviled by the healthcare details

While the new U.S. healthcare reform legislation did not hide its new Medicaid discounts, the upfront costs apparently were largely ignored until the 1Q earnings began to roll in. Then seemingly everyone - large cap biopharma, analysts and investors alike - were taken by surprise by the quick impact of the new law on drug company P&Ls.

After the long passage process, the consensus apparently was that reform might have costs up front, but that the longer term benefits, like patent exclusivity for biologics and additional covered patients, would substantially mitigate them...