Healthcare losers in 2015

President Barack Obama will veto a bill passed by congressional Republicans to repeal most of the Affordable Care Act, whose new insurance markets also faced questions about sustainability.

Michael Cannon of the Cato Institute and Jonathan Adler of Case Western Reserve University were rebuffed by the U.S. Supreme Court when the justices rejected the lawsuit they spearheaded to cripple the ACA's premium subsidy program.

As of Dec. 17, 12 of 23 not-for-profit co-op health plans established through ACA loans to provide more insurance competition have been shut down for financial reasons.

Dr. Prem Reddy, CEO of Prime Healthcare Services, withdrew Prime from a deal to acquire the six-hospital Daughters of Charity Health System, its biggest deal to date, after the California attorney general set tough conditions for approval.

Martin Shkreli, CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, was vilified even by drug industry leaders for "profiteering" after his company bought the rights to the drug Daraprim and immediately raised the price by more than 5,000%. In December, Shkreli was charged with securities fraud for actions undertaken when he was CEO of another pharmaceutical company, Retrophin, and was ousted as CEO of Turing.

Hemsley

Healthcare providers and low-income residents in Florida, Tennessee, Virginia and Utah saw

Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Haslam failed to get his GOP-controlled Legislature to approve his conservative version of Medicaid expansion.

Many health plan members received care at an in-network facility and later got a surprise out-of-network bill from an out-of-network provider from whom they unknowingly received care.

Healthcare providers' right to sue state Medicaid agencies over low payment rates was sharply limited by the U.S. Supreme Court's Armstrong decision, which could reduce low-income Americans' access to care.

Gov. Rick Scott