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Intuitive Surgical (NSDQ:ISRG) last week warned of the risks posed to its business by the geopolitical shifts of the past year, including the likely repeal of Obamacare, the U.S.’s threatened abrogation of the North American Free Trade Agreement and Great Britain’s pending exit from the European Union.
In its annual report filed Feb. 3, the robot-assisted surgery market’s leading player warned that a repeal of the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act, enacted in 2010, “could have a negative impact on the demand for our products.”
“Any changes of, or uncertainty with respect to future reimbursement rates, or changes in hospital admission rates could impact our customers’ demand for our products and services, which in turn could impact our ability to successfully commercialize our products, or could limit or eliminate our spending on certain development projects. These changes could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows,” the company wrote in the filing. “We are unable to predict whether other healthcare policies, including policies stemming from legislation or regulations affecting our business may be proposed or enacted in the future; what effect such policies would have on our business; or the effect ongoing uncertainty about these matters will have on the purchasing decisions of our customers.”
