Gentiva Health Services Shares Plunged: What You Need to Know

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of health provider Gentiva Health Services (NAS: GTIV) fell 11% today after Congress passed its deficit reduction deal.

So what: Now that a deficit reduction/debt ceiling deal is signed, sealed, and delivered, it's time for investors to fret about what that means to them. What may be good for the country overall will nonetheless squeezing companies like Gentiva, which provide services paid for by Medicare.

Now what: This is just step one of the pressure health care costs will come under; a Congressional committee will chop at the budget again before Thanksgiving. You can bet the health-care lobbyists will be out in force, but who knows what services will be on the chopping block? There's a lot of uncertainty for Gentiva right now, and even with a forward P/E ratio of less than 5, I'm still not convinced that now is the right time to buy shares.

Interested in more info on Gentiva Health Services? Add it to your watchlist.

At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributor Travis Hoium does not have a position in any company mentioned. You can follow Travis on Twitter at @FlushDrawFool, check out his personal stock holdings or follow his CAPS picks at TMFFlushDraw. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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