HMO Index Posts Best Gain in Over 3 Years

Healthcare cost
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Healthcare cost

The Morgan Stanley Healthcare Payors Index is having its best day in three and a half years, as stocks rally on news health insurer WellPoint is buying Amerigroup in a $4 billion plus deal.

The HMO index rose as much as 9.8 percent in Monday's trade, its biggest rally since Oct. 13, 2008, when the index climbed more than 13 percent. That same day in October 2008, the Dow gained more than 900 points. Today, however, the Dow is lower, perhaps making the HMO rally even more impressive.

Within the HMO index, Amerigroup is trading at an all-time high, eclipsing its previous record set in 2011 by more than $10. An hour into the session, the stock was trading roughly 10 times its average daily volume.