Will Obamacare Crush These Health Care Giants?

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, now commonly referred to as Obamacare, remains one of the most contentious issues in the United States. After the widely reported "glitches" that accompanied the rollout of the online exchanges in October, the finger pointing on Capitol Hill that soon followed in November, and the latest enrollment figures released by the Department of Health and Human Services this week, the impact of the ACA is still unclear for many consumers and health care investors.

Despite the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the implementation of Obamacare, however, many managed care stocks have performed well this year and haven't seen massive declines since the exchanges were launched on Oct. 1. Shares of WellPoint have climbed more than 50% in the last 12 months, and UnitedHealth , another major health insurer, has also outperformed the market in the last year.

Source: YCharts.

So what drove the stellar performance of these stocks over the last 12 months, and are there still opportunities ahead despite the challenges and ambiguity? Senior analyst Michael Olsen discusses these topics with health care bureau chief Max Macaluso in the video below.

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The article Will Obamacare Crush These Health Care Giants? originally appeared on Fool.com.

Max Macaluso, Ph.D. has no position in any stocks mentioned. Michael Olsen, CFA owns shares of UnitedHealth Group. The Motley Fool recommends UnitedHealth Group and WellPoint. The Motley Fool owns shares of WellPoint. 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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