Ex-Aetna CEO: Investors overreacting to 'Medicare for All' proposals

Although health insurance stocks are taking a hit from discussion surrounding "Medicare for All" policies, Aetna's ex-chairman and CEO Ronald Williams told CNBC investors are overreacting.

Mr. Williams, who was Aetna's CEO from about 2006-11, told CNBC's Squawk Box: "No one really knows what 'Medicare for All' means. It's all in the details. And I think what stocks are reacting to is simply uncertainty, particularly among unsophisticated investors who don't really understand all the nuances" of implementing a Medicare for All policy.

Healthcare is the worst-performing S&P 500 sector this year, according to CNBC. While Democrat proponents of a single-payer health system argue it would lower healthcare costs and reduce administrative inefficiencies, private health insurers have spoken out against the idea, arguing instead that a single-payer system would upend the U.S. health system.

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