Health reform coverage cost falls slightly

The Congressional Budget Office now estimates that the health reform law will reduce the number of uninsured by 30 million by 2016.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The cost and promised savings of health reform tied lawmakers in knots two years ago. The issues are no less complicated or uncertain today.

On Tuesday, the Congressional Budget Office released new estimates on the cost of subsidizing insurance coverage for millions of Americans.

The bottom line: The government's overall tab is expected to fall slightly over a decade. It is now projected to spend $1.083 trillion between 2012 and 2021. Last year, CBO's estimate was $1.131 trillion.

A key goal of the Affordable Care Act, passed in 2010, is to guarantee coverage for everyone regardless of health status and create affordable insurance options for low- and middle-income Americans.

To achieve that end, the law expands eligibility rules for Medicaid and subsidizes the cost of health insurance for low- and middle-income families buying policies on newly created insurance exchanges, which will open in 2014.

The CBO now expects more people to be eligible for Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program, increasing the government's costs by $168 billion compared to last year's estimates. The reason: higher unemployment projections and lower income expectations.

At the same time, that increased outlay is offset by a reduction in projected costs for various tax credits and the government's share of premiums.

It is also offset by higher-than-expected taxable compensation and penalties, both of which will add to government revenue.

Specifically, the CBO expects up to 5 million more workers will lose their employer-based insurance, and in exchange their employers will pay them more instead. That additional pay will be taxable, whereas an employer contribution to pay for a worker's health insurance is treated as tax-free compensation.

Plus, the CBO expects more penalties to be paid by employers that don't provide adequate financial support for their workers' health coverage.

Despite this increased estimate of people who will no longer have work-based coverage, the CBO still expects the number of workers with employer-sponsored plans to grow, just more slowly than it might have without the health reform law.

Today, an estimated 154 million workers get their health insurance at the office. By 2022, the CBO projects 161 million will.

Overall, the agency expects the health reform law to reduce the total number of uninsured by 30 million in 2016. As a result, it projects that 93% of non-elderly, legal U.S. residents will have health coverage, up from 82% today.

The CBO -- the official budget scorekeeper on Capitol Hill -- has not revised its cost estimate for the full health reform law, which includes many provisions beyond coverage subsidies. Last year, it determined that the Affordable Care Act as a whole would reduce deficits by $210 billion between 2012 and 2021.

The CBO's estimates come just two weeks before the Supreme Court will hear arguments in a landmark case brought by 26 states and the National Federation of Independent Business, which contend certain provisions in the law are unconstitutional. 

View the original article here

Health reform coverage cost falls slightly

The Congressional Budget Office now estimates that the health reform law will reduce the number of uninsured by 30 million by 2016.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The cost and promised savings of health reform tied lawmakers in knots two years ago. The issues are no less complicated or uncertain today.

On Tuesday, the Congressional Budget Office released new estimates on the cost of subsidizing insurance coverage for millions of Americans.

The bottom line: The government's overall tab is expected to fall slightly over a decade. It is now projected to spend $1.083 trillion between 2012 and 2021. Last year, CBO's estimate was $1.131 trillion.

A key goal of the Affordable Care Act, passed in 2010, is to guarantee coverage for everyone regardless of health status and create affordable insurance options for low- and middle-income Americans.

To achieve that end, the law expands eligibility rules for Medicaid and subsidizes the cost of health insurance for low- and middle-income families buying policies on newly created insurance exchanges, which will open in 2014.

The CBO now expects more people to be eligible for Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program, increasing the government's costs by $168 billion compared to last year's estimates. The reason: higher unemployment projections and lower income expectations.

At the same time, that increased outlay is offset by a reduction in projected costs for various tax credits and the government's share of premiums.

It is also offset by higher-than-expected taxable compensation and penalties, both of which will add to government revenue.

Specifically, the CBO expects up to 5 million more workers will lose their employer-based insurance, and in exchange their employers will pay them more instead. That additional pay will be taxable, whereas an employer contribution to pay for a worker's health insurance is treated as tax-free compensation.

Plus, the CBO expects more penalties to be paid by employers that don't provide adequate financial support for their workers' health coverage.

Despite this increased estimate of people who will no longer have work-based coverage, the CBO still expects the number of workers with employer-sponsored plans to grow, just more slowly than it might have without the health reform law.

Today, an estimated 154 million workers get their health insurance at the office. By 2022, the CBO projects 161 million will.

Overall, the agency expects the health reform law to reduce the total number of uninsured by 30 million in 2016. As a result, it projects that 93% of non-elderly, legal U.S. residents will have health coverage, up from 82% today.

The CBO -- the official budget scorekeeper on Capitol Hill -- has not revised its cost estimate for the full health reform law, which includes many provisions beyond coverage subsidies. Last year, it determined that the Affordable Care Act as a whole would reduce deficits by $210 billion between 2012 and 2021.

The CBO's estimates come just two weeks before the Supreme Court will hear arguments in a landmark case brought by 26 states and the National Federation of Independent Business, which contend certain provisions in the law are unconstitutional. 

View the original article here

Health reform coverage cost falls slightly

The Congressional Budget Office now estimates that the health reform law will reduce the number of uninsured by 30 million by 2016.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The cost and promised savings of health reform tied lawmakers in knots two years ago. The issues are no less complicated or uncertain today.

On Tuesday, the Congressional Budget Office released new estimates on the cost of subsidizing insurance coverage for millions of Americans.

The bottom line: The government's overall tab is expected to fall slightly over a decade. It is now projected to spend $1.083 trillion between 2012 and 2021. Last year, CBO's estimate was $1.131 trillion.

A key goal of the Affordable Care Act, passed in 2010, is to guarantee coverage for everyone regardless of health status and create affordable insurance options for low- and middle-income Americans.

To achieve that end, the law expands eligibility rules for Medicaid and subsidizes the cost of health insurance for low- and middle-income families buying policies on newly created insurance exchanges, which will open in 2014.

The CBO now expects more people to be eligible for Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program, increasing the government's costs by $168 billion compared to last year's estimates. The reason: higher unemployment projections and lower income expectations.

At the same time, that increased outlay is offset by a reduction in projected costs for various tax credits and the government's share of premiums.

It is also offset by higher-than-expected taxable compensation and penalties, both of which will add to government revenue.

Specifically, the CBO expects up to 5 million more workers will lose their employer-based insurance, and in exchange their employers will pay them more instead. That additional pay will be taxable, whereas an employer contribution to pay for a worker's health insurance is treated as tax-free compensation.

Plus, the CBO expects more penalties to be paid by employers that don't provide adequate financial support for their workers' health coverage.

Despite this increased estimate of people who will no longer have work-based coverage, the CBO still expects the number of workers with employer-sponsored plans to grow, just more slowly than it might have without the health reform law.

Today, an estimated 154 million workers get their health insurance at the office. By 2022, the CBO projects 161 million will.

Overall, the agency expects the health reform law to reduce the total number of uninsured by 30 million in 2016. As a result, it projects that 93% of non-elderly, legal U.S. residents will have health coverage, up from 82% today.

The CBO -- the official budget scorekeeper on Capitol Hill -- has not revised its cost estimate for the full health reform law, which includes many provisions beyond coverage subsidies. Last year, it determined that the Affordable Care Act as a whole would reduce deficits by $210 billion between 2012 and 2021.

The CBO's estimates come just two weeks before the Supreme Court will hear arguments in a landmark case brought by 26 states and the National Federation of Independent Business, which contend certain provisions in the law are unconstitutional. 

View the original article here

Health reform coverage cost falls slightly

The Congressional Budget Office now estimates that the health reform law will reduce the number of uninsured by 30 million by 2016.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The cost and promised savings of health reform tied lawmakers in knots two years ago. The issues are no less complicated or uncertain today.

On Tuesday, the Congressional Budget Office released new estimates on the cost of subsidizing insurance coverage for millions of Americans.

The bottom line: The government's overall tab is expected to fall slightly over a decade. It is now projected to spend $1.083 trillion between 2012 and 2021. Last year, CBO's estimate was $1.131 trillion.

A key goal of the Affordable Care Act, passed in 2010, is to guarantee coverage for everyone regardless of health status and create affordable insurance options for low- and middle-income Americans.

To achieve that end, the law expands eligibility rules for Medicaid and subsidizes the cost of health insurance for low- and middle-income families buying policies on newly created insurance exchanges, which will open in 2014.

The CBO now expects more people to be eligible for Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program, increasing the government's costs by $168 billion compared to last year's estimates. The reason: higher unemployment projections and lower income expectations.

At the same time, that increased outlay is offset by a reduction in projected costs for various tax credits and the government's share of premiums.

It is also offset by higher-than-expected taxable compensation and penalties, both of which will add to government revenue.

Specifically, the CBO expects up to 5 million more workers will lose their employer-based insurance, and in exchange their employers will pay them more instead. That additional pay will be taxable, whereas an employer contribution to pay for a worker's health insurance is treated as tax-free compensation.

Plus, the CBO expects more penalties to be paid by employers that don't provide adequate financial support for their workers' health coverage.

Despite this increased estimate of people who will no longer have work-based coverage, the CBO still expects the number of workers with employer-sponsored plans to grow, just more slowly than it might have without the health reform law.

Today, an estimated 154 million workers get their health insurance at the office. By 2022, the CBO projects 161 million will.

Overall, the agency expects the health reform law to reduce the total number of uninsured by 30 million in 2016. As a result, it projects that 93% of non-elderly, legal U.S. residents will have health coverage, up from 82% today.

The CBO -- the official budget scorekeeper on Capitol Hill -- has not revised its cost estimate for the full health reform law, which includes many provisions beyond coverage subsidies. Last year, it determined that the Affordable Care Act as a whole would reduce deficits by $210 billion between 2012 and 2021.

The CBO's estimates come just two weeks before the Supreme Court will hear arguments in a landmark case brought by 26 states and the National Federation of Independent Business, which contend certain provisions in the law are unconstitutional. 

View the original article here

Health Management falls on lawsuit and outlook

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Health Management Associates Inc. plunged Tuesday on concerns about a lawsuit by a former employee, and the hospital operator's weak outlook for the fourth quarter and 2012.

After the markets closed on Monday, Health Management said it expects a profit of 25 cents to 26 cents per share in the fourth quarter excluding restructuring costs, write-offs of deferred debt issuance costs, and other items. It forecast revenue of about $1.58 billion. The Naples, Fla., company said admissions at hospitals open at least a year will fall 3.5 to 4 percent, and adjusted admissions will decline 1 to 1.5 percent. Adjusted admissions is a measurement that includes both inpatient admissions and outpatient procedures.

Analysts expect Health Management to report a profit of 19 cents per share in profit and $1.6 billion in revenue, according to FactSet.

Also on Monday, an analyst for CRT Capital Group wrote about a lawsuit filed by former compliance director Paul Meyer. Meyer sued Health Management for wrongful termination, and filed a whistleblower lawsuit saying the company improperly admitted Medicare patients.

Citi Investment Research analyst Gary Taylor said Meyer may make a credible plaintiff.

"While the series of events appears concerning, the allegations are hard to reconcile with Health Management's average level of one-day stays," he said.

Health Management Associates said it was not aware Meyer had filed a whistleblower lawsuit.

Shares of the company lost 91 cents, or 13 percent, to close Tuesday at $6.05. Earlier in the day the stock fell as much as 30.9 percent.

The company's fourth-quarter revenue guidance includes $38 million to $39 million in health care information technology revenue from Medicare and Medicaid. Taylor said Wall Street estimates don't include the Medicare and Medicaid revenue. If it is excluded from the company's total, its revenue fell about $46 million short expectations.

Raymond James analyst John Ransom said volumes were weaker than expected.

For 2012, Health Management said it expects adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $875 million to $925 million. It said revenue will be between $6.3 billion and $6.5 billion, and admissions at hospitals open at least a year could decline as much as 2 percent, or could be unchanged from 2011.

Analysts expect the company to report adjusted EBITDA of $905 million on $6.57 billion in revenue.

The company also announced Tuesday that General Counsel Timothy Parry is leaving the company. Health Management said Parry resigned effective immediately as general counsel and secretary of the company, and he will retire from the company on March 2. Linda Epstein will be acting general counsel.

View the original article here