dlvr.it
GOP rep who voted for Medicaid cuts dumps stock in company that provides Medicaid coverage
A company that monitors how legislators buy and sell stock is reporting that Rep. Robert Bresnahan (R-Pa.) has sold his stock in Centene just as Trump’s budget bill is preparing to pass the House.
“We recently saw Representative Robert Bresnahan selling Centene stock. Centene provides healthcare exchanges for Medicaid. The stock has now fallen 43 percent since his sale,” posted Wisconsin financial services company Quiver Quantitative, which advises clients to buy and sell stock according to how legislators with inside knowledge appear to be voting.
The company describes itself as a reliable Geiger counter on which industries will flourish or suffer as legislators determine bills that survive the House and Senate. For example, Quiver Quantitative noted that stock for Viasat rose 132 percent after Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) invested in it last year.
READ MORE: 'Takes drugs all the time': Trump biographer says president planted report to destroy political rival
Viasat produces communication equipment for the U.S. military, which will get a $150 billion boost under President Donald Trump’s budget bill to more than $1 trillion.
Quiver Quantitative also reported an uptick in investment in defense stocks from politicians on the Armed Services Committee in the days leading up to the U.S. attack on Iran.
Just as easily as Trump’s budget can deliver profit to defense contractors, it can also deliver similar, abeit harmful, changes to stock prices for companies associated with Medicaid, including Centene, whose stock plummeted July 1 as it began to appear Trump's budget bill was rolling toward passage. Trump’s budget contains historic cuts to Medicaid of about $1 trillion over 10 years. Medicaid, jointly run by states and the federal government, covers more than 70 million low-income or disabled people, including nearly half of the nation's children.
Breneshen, who sits on the House Committee on Agriculture, which is currently involved in discussion on SNAP reform, has said he does not manage his own portfolio. He claimed he will set up a qualified blind trust, but Quiver Quantitative reports he does not appear to have done so yet.
READ MORE: 'Morally and fiscally bankrupt': House Republican scorches Trump's bill ahead of vote
About 27 percent of Bresnahan’s district relies on Medicaid, the second highest out of all congressional districts in Pennsylvania. Still, Breneshen voted to pass Trump’s bill out of the House in May before offloading his Centene stock.
