The Affordable Care Act has been controversial — so much so that Republican objections to it were a principal cause of the recent partial shutdown of the federal government.

Yet from the financial perspective of the health care industry, Obamacare, as the law is often known, doesn’t seem much of a hindrance.

In fact, it may even turn out to be positive.

Consider the situation of health insurance providers.

Because they face new regulations intended to broaden coverage and limit profit-taking, some analysts have been concerned that profits will suffer. But in the run-up to the Affordable Care Act, stock market prices have told a different story.

Over the last 12 months, shares of the top five publicly traded health insurance companies — Aetna, WellPoint, UnitedHealth Group, Humana and Cigna — have increased by an average of 32 percent, while the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index has risen by just 24 percent.