Probe of Medicare advantage leak finds wide speculation on deal

The Wall Street Journal: Health-Policy Move Widely Shared
More people than previously thought predicted a major change in U.S. health-care policy that led to a federal insider-trading probe, according to new documents assembled by congressional investigators. Justin Simon, a policy analyst with Height Securities, said in a previously unreported email that was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal that he heard about the policy change before it was made official from "like 30 people." Mr. Simon sent an alert to Wall Street traders just before markets closed April 1, sending health-insurance stocks on a tear. This and other emails indicate the extent to which Washington's insular world of health-care policy experts was buzzing about a possible deal that would result in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reversing course on previously announced Medicare funding cuts (Mullins and McGinty, 5/13).