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Pfizer Wins While CVS Loses

Oct. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Drugmakers, hospitals and clinical laboratories are the winners in the newest version of a plan to expand Americans’ access to health care that’s set for a battle among Democrats in the U.S. Senate.

The Senate Finance Committee intends to vote this week on the legislation after becoming the last of five congressional panels to finish drafting a measure. Leaders in the Democratic- controlled Senate must then try to combine that version with one the health committee approved in July. Pfizer Inc., the world’s largest drugmaker, and hospital companies including Community Health Systems Inc. are benefiting from agreements with President Barack Obama that will limit any threat to their profits. Insurers such as WellPoint Inc. beat back an effort to create a government-run insurance plan, though they lost ground when the finance panel scaled back penalties for not having insurance. Industries such as medical device makers have to shoulder new fees. “They all have to pay out something,” said Les Funtleyder, a health-care analyst at Miller Tabak & Co. in New York. “But everybody has gotten a lot more out of this thing than the expectations going in, which were very negative.”