Debra Richman is the Vice President of Health Care Strategy at Harris Interactive. Her commitment to progress across the healthcare sector has enabled her to identify emerging trends in healthcare, create and implement new business opportunities, and establish distribution channels for products and services.

We've often said that healthcare would not determine the election, but rather the election would determine healthcare. How accurate that statement is right now?

Tuesday's elections have clearly left the fate of healthcare reform hanging in the balance. The nation remains divided over whether the law is a good or bad idea. On top of that, we couldn't have a more apparent partisan split-- Democrats want reform implemented and Republicans are committed to trying to repeal it. So, in light of all this turmoil and a split Congress, what might happen? What are the safe bets to make in this market?

Republicans will now have the power to block funding for many parts of the overhaul, and block funding they surely will. There has been a massive seat swing in the House (239/196) which will embolden the new House to assert all their might and power.  PPACA will not likely be repealed in this Congress, so 2012 could be a potential tipping point when more Senate Democrats (20) are up for re-election, as compared with 6 Republican Senators.

States will clearly be playing a huge role in reform implementation over the next several years. Republicans recaptured at least 11 Governor seats from Democrats. Republican governors are committed to fighting key parts of the overhaul. There will be wide variances in what states will do-- many will be enthusiastic, while others will oppose efforts to move forward with reform, create insurance exchanges, etc. This will create disparate healthcare markets and a patch work of delivery systems around the country.

Although we are not certain who will hold the power and what will be key, there is one implication we can assume: It is far easier to prevent funding on something that has not yet been implemented than take dollars away from programs already in place. This market bet is close to a sure thing!