A Stifel Nicolaus analyst said Monday that the threat of health care spending cuts could hurt a variety of stocks in the health care sector, including companies that own hospitals, rehabilitation and nursing facilities, and companies that own health care real estate.

Gap or bridge insurance covers some of the out-of-pocket health care costs that are increasingly difficult for employees to shoulder, including deductibles that can go as high as $10,000.

As many as one in 10 workers would find their savings limited by the cap, even at the current, albeit historically low, discount rate of 4 percent, the EBRI said.