House Democrats threaten Azar, Verma with subpoenas prior to hearing

OCT. 22: Predictions are that Centene Corp. will reveal positive numbers when it reports quarterly earnings before the markets open. Zacks Investment Research is pegging the insurer’s third-quarter revenue to hit $18.3 billion, up 13.5% from the same period last year. Quest Diagnostics is also scheduled to deliver its earnings before the markets open.

OCT. 23: Earnings reports continue with insurer Anthem set to deliver its financials. Continuing with the trend of good news for insurers, the company is expected to post revenue of $25 billion, up 10.6% from the same period in 2018. Technology company NextGen Healthcare will also post its earnings report and expectations are that revenue will climb by 3.1% from Q3 2018.

OCT. 23: In what’s sure to be a tension-filled few hours, CMS Administrator Seema Verma is slated to appear before a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee for a hearing titled, “Sabotage: The Trump Administration’s Attack on Healthcare.” Energy and Commerce Chairman Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) last week sent Verma and HHS Secretary Alex Azar a scolding letter, dangling the threat of subpoenas if they don’t come forward with background documents on various administration policies that he argued “would increase health care costs and take away coverage from American families and patients.”

OCT. 24: Fresh off of its annual conference a couple of weeks ago, technology vendor Cerner Corp. will share its quarterly earnings, with revenue expected to reach $1.43 billion, up 6.7%. During its annual meeting in Kansas City, Cerner took the wraps off of several new initiatives centered on predictive and cognitive modeling.