The Tax Man Cometh

February 12, 2015, 7:01 am

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Congress Should Stop Shortchanging The IRS - by Jerry Jasinowski
It's tax season again and once again our elected representatives are manipulating the tax system in strange and mysterious ways. Most members of Congress will tell you that they are anti-tax, but that doesn't prevent them from writing new rules to reward major donors, encourage certain behaviors and promote favored policies. Over the past 12 years, Congress has enacted 4,680 changes to the tax code, an average of more than one a day. Today the tax code runs to 73,950 pages, give or take a few. It is theoretically possible that Watson - the IBM computer that won the Jeopardy challenge - can remember 73,950 pages of tax rules, but that is surely beyond the capacity of any mortal human.
Critics complain about business tax breaks, and for sure there are a lot of them in those 73,950 pages, but the real culprits are you and me. The home mortgage deduction, for example, costs Uncle Sam $70 billion a year, and 77 percent of the benefit goes to homeowners earning more than $100,000 a year.
But the really big one - costing the government more than twice what the mortgage deduction costs - is the health care deduction. Most working people get their health insurance through their jobs which amounts to tax exempt income.
Somewhere along the line the original purpose of taxes - to fund the government - got lost. Today we use the tax system to coerce people into doing what our elected representatives lack the courage to openly require. The Affordable Care Act, for example, uses the tax system to coerce individuals and businesses into buying into the new health insurance system - Obamacare. This year companies with more than 100 full time employees must offer coverage to full timers or pay a punitive tax (in addition to all their other federal, state and local taxes). Full time employees are defined as those working 30 hours a week on average. In 2016 it will apply to firms with 50-99 full timers, and the coverage will be extended to their dependents.
Firms that fail to offer health insurance to at least 70 percent of full-time employees in 2015 will get socked for $2,084 for each full timer less 80. In 2016 the required coverage jumps from 70 percent to 95 percent of full-time employees and only 30 full timers are exempt when calculating the tax. After that, the rules get even more complicated.
The fines - excuse me, taxes -- are not just for businesses. The tax penalty for individuals going without health insurance in 2015 is $325 a person ($162.50 for each family member under 18) with a ceiling of $975. That of course is an over-simplification. Again, the rules are complex. But in effect if you don't buy into the system, the IRS nails both you and your employer.
Or at least it's supposed to. While the IRS is inheriting this additional responsibility, it is reeling from yet another major cut in its budget. Some contend Congress has slashed the IRS budget because IRS officials have denied tax exempt status to conservative groups. Others suggest this latest cut is intended to undermine the ability of the IRS to identify and penalize those who fail to buy health insurance or provide it to their employees. We should stop playing games with the IRS and start funding the agency adequately to do its job.
Jerry Jasinowski, an economist and author, served as President of the National Association of Manufacturers for 14 years and later The Manufacturing Institute. Jerry is available for speaking engagements. February 2015 Reported by Huffington Post 5 hours ago.

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These Programs Are Helping Fix A Broken U.S. Prison System

February 12, 2015, 8:43 am

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Most experts would argue the U.S. prison system is in need of change, and a number of programs are tackling this challenge in cities nationwide.

A study by the Vera Institute of Justice released on Wednesday found that local and county jails across the country are being misused. Instead of holding people who are viewed as a flight risk or too dangerous to release while waiting for trial, jails have become filled with those who are too poor to afford bail and people with mental health issues or a history of drug addiction, the report found. On any given day, the number of people housed in local facilities has spiked from 224,000 in 1983 to 731,000 in 2013.

And the problems continue on a broader scale.

In 2013, about 1,574,000 prisoners were in state and federal prisons, according to the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). As Think Progress reported, America has the largest prison population in the world.

For many prisoners, time spent behind bars isn't a one-time affair either. Inmates who break the law repeatedly can spend years going in and out of the system. Last year, a study by BJS found that 67.8 percent of former state prisoners who were released in 2005 were re-arrested within three years, according to The Daily Beast. That figure shot up to 76.6 percent when considering those who were re-arrested within five years of their release.

There are several programs across the country, however, that are restoring justice and empowering inmates so they can benefit society on the outside. Here are six initiatives helping fix America's broken prison system.
*

-Texas Program Arms Its Inmates With Business Skills-

*Post by Prison Entrepreneurship Program (Official Page).Richard Chavez Jr. -- the fourth member of his family to spend time in prison -- is stopping his past from dictating his future. The former gang member has benefited from a program run out of the Cleveland Correctional Facility near Houston that helps inmates develop business skills for life after prison.

The Prison Entrepreneurship Program (PEP) focuses on changing inmate behavior and aims to lessen the likelihood people like Chavez will end up back behind bars, the Associated Press reported. It teaches skills valuable in an entrepreneurial setting -- like writing a business plan and finding financing to launch -- and is making a measurable impact on its students.

"PEP introduced me to a new way of thinking; one that was completely foreign to me before I went to prison," Donny D., a PEP graduate, wrote on the official program blog last June. He said he is currently obtaining an associate's degree in machining technology. "I learned through my struggle what PEP really is. It’s more than a program; it’s a brotherhood, a family. It has made a difference in my life. I don’t know where I would be without it."

Not only is the 7 percent recidivism rate for PEP participants significantly lower than the national average, but nearly all of the ex-inmates found jobs after release. What's more, about 165 of the more than 1,100 graduates have opened their own businesses -- at least two of which are raking in more than $1 million.

"Business is good," said Cedric Hornbuckle, who completed the program while serving a sentence for drug trafficking, according to the AP. "This program gave me discipline I absolutely needed."*

-Arizona Group Prioritizes Mental Health-

*

A 2006 report from the U.S. Department of Justice found that about 56 percent of state prisoners, 45 percent of federal prisoners and 64 percent of jail inmates had a mental health problem -- a reality that can complicate an inmate's successful transition back into society.

Arizona's Community Bridges group has a team helping to better those figures in Phoenix, as The Republic reported in January. The organization's Forensic Assertive Community Treatment (FACT) team works with the Maricopa County Sheriff's office and mentally ill clients (many of whom have conditions like schizophrenia, major depression and panic and bipolar disorders) who have frequent run-ins with law enforcement.

By connecting former and current inmates with basic services that benefit their lives, FACT addresses the unique needs of their clients in hopes of reducing recidivism in the region.

Liz DaCosta, clinical coordinator for FACT, told The Republic that her team does most of the work getting new clients -- many of whom are battling homelessness and drug addictions -- on the right path. But the more clients realize how beneficial it is to have a stable roof over their head and food to eat, the more they want to live independently and stay out of trouble.

FACT appears to be paying off. So far, 85 percent of the team's 49 clients have avoided returning to jail or prison since the program's inception last year.*

-Ohio Initiative Shows Inmates Their Communities Need Them-

*Post by Horizon Prison Initiative.Every week, volunteers with the Horizon Prison Initiative spend about two hours chatting and connecting with inmates in Marion, Ohio, Jeff Hunsaker told NPR News.

"That simple thing of just coming unconditionally says that you’re not a piece of junk, that you do have worth and it’s vitally important that you change and come back to our community," said Hunsaker, director of the Horizon Prison Initiative, an interfaith program for prisoners.

State officials credit Ohio’s relatively low recidivism on community programs, like the Horizon Prison Initiative, that provide inmates with the opportunity to engage with mentors from the outside. The state's overall recidivism rate of 27 percent is below the national average.

"Prisons are notoriously segregated, but outside of prison, communities are becoming more and more diverse," the initiative states on its website. "In Horizon, participants learn to live with others in multifaith and multiracial families, recognizing the importance and value of interdependence."*

-California Program Teaches Computer Coding-

*

At San Quentin State Prison in California, technology savvy isn't a prerequisite to learn how to code. In fact, it's OK if inmates have never used a computer before.

The Last Mile, a San Francisco-based nonprofit, works in the prison and is helping curb recidivism through Code 7370, as KPIX 5 News reported. The program allows students to learn computer coding, helping them prepare for a 21st century workforce.

"Having a job is the key to successful re-entry and breaking the cycle of incarceration," Beverly Parenti, co-founder of The Last Mile, told the news outlet.

The goal of the program is to teach inmates -- many of whom had been behind bars for years and had never touched a smartphone -- enough coding to hold an entry-level job in the field by the end of a six-month course, as USA Today noted.

"I’m humbled and inspired to think that by learning this skill, I’ll have the opportunity to transcend the stigma of being in prison," Christopher Schuhmacher wrote on an inmate Q and A website, according to KPIX 5. "I still don’t know exactly what the future holds, but I’m moving forward feeling incredibly lucky."*

-Minnesota Team Equips Prisoners With Tools They Need For Success-

*

A team of Hennepin County workers in Minnesota are fighting recidivism by arming prisoners with basic necessities in hopes that they'll never be behind bars again.

Social workers, a community health worker, an alcohol and drug counselor and case management assistants comprise a team that conducts interviews at the county jail to see if inmates have access to things like supportive housing, counseling and health insurance, as the Star Tribune reported. Inspired by research showing that prisoners are far less likely to be re-arrested after release if they have access to such services, the Transition from Jail to Community Initiative is arming inmates with the tools they need to get their lives in order.

Since October, the initiative has helped more than 100 people serving time in jail by providing the social services inmates lack, and hundreds more have been enrolled in health insurance.

Efforts in Hennepin County are "exceedingly rare" combining commitments from the sheriff's department, social workers, judges, public defenders and the county's hospital, Jesse Jannetta, a prison re-entry expert at the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C., told The Star Tribune.

"Everyone recognizes that collaboration is necessary to reduce recidivism, but Hennepin County actually made it happen," Jannetta said.*

-$75 Million Pledge Will Help Mentally Ill, Poor Get Out From Behind Bars-

*

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation announced on Wednesday plans to give $75 million toward local jails across the country in an effort to help nonviolent offenders, the poor and those living with mental health issues stay out from behind bars, the Associated Press reported.

"For too long America has incarcerated too many people unnecessarily, spending too much money without improving public safety," Julia Stasch, president of the foundation, said in a statement on Wednesday, according to the AP.

The outlet points to a new report the Vera Institute of Justice report that found nearly 12 million people pass through county and city jails in the U.S. Many of those locked up on nonviolent charges (and especially those with mental illnesses) are repeatedly admitted, the report found, contributing significantly to an annual cost of about $22.2 billion for taxpayers.Like Us On Facebook

Follow Us On Twitter Reported by Huffington Post 3 hours ago.

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FCC Sticks It to Congress, Sides with John Oliver

February 12, 2015, 9:33 am

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The big kerfuffle in the tech space over the past week has been the reaction to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s article in Wired, titled “This Is How We Will Ensure Net Neutrality.”

The FCC has been wrestling with the issue since January of last year, when an appeals court dismissed its 2010 Open Internet order as exceeding its authority. The original response, crafted by Wheeler—a former cable and cellphone industry lobbyist—featured a revision that would have allowed ISPs to charge content companies for an online fast lane, provided that such arrangements didn’t hurt consumers or competition.

That plan sparked a significant backlash after John Oliver lampooned it in a hilarious June 2014 segment of hisLast Week Tonight show, when he compared Wheeler’s plan to “the equivalent of needing a babysitter and hiring a dingo.” The clip got 8 million hits on YouTube. The FCC, which had solicited input, was inundated after Oliver invited viewers to write the agency and broadcast its address. In all, some 4 million people posted public comments, the majority of them negative on the change and in favor of Net Neutrality.

Now, Wheeler has apparently done an about-face. In his statement, he called for “enforceable, bright-line rules [that] will ban paid prioritization, and the blocking and throttling of lawful content and services. I propose to fully apply—for the first time ever—those bright-line rules to mobile broadband.”

That also just happens to be pretty much what President Obama called for back in November, when he advocated reclassifying the Internet as a public utility under Title II of the Telecommunications Act. The Internet is an essential service, Obama maintained, and there should be no blocking of websites or services, no throttling, no slow lanes, and greater transparency.

Republicans are infuriated. Presidential contender Rand Paul said the plan “gives the FCC the power to decide what Internet service providers can charge and how they operate. This is not only a direct attack on the free market, but it will also result in an increase in Internet access fees for millions of consumers in America. It’s a massive tax on the middle class, plain and simple.” Others, obviously, disagree.

The full FCC won’t vote on the new rules—the actual final wording of which we haven’t yet seen—until February 26. Until then, you can expect a torrent of political posturing. Even afterward, the issue won’t likely be settled. Congress could intervene because it originally granted the FCC the power to regulate the Net. And powerhouse corporations like AT&T and Verizon, which feel slighted, are gearing up for a court fight. Count on the battle dragging on for a long time to come.

*Nation’s Second-Largest Health Insurer Hacked*

Few things are in the news as frequently as the world cyberwar and how to protect yourself from online threats. This past week proved no exception as Anthem, the nation’s second-largest health insurer, revealed that it had been subject to a hack attack that compromised the personal information of up to 80 million of its employees and customers.

It’s a disturbing incident, to be sure, but what is perhaps equally troubling is that cybercrooks seem to be increasingly targeting the medical sector. People’s health information that can be sold on the black market is tempting booty indeed.

“What we’ve seen in the last few years is that attackers have realized the economics of health-care data are very, very attractive,” says Lee Weiner, senior vice president at cybersecurity firm Rapid7. So much so that the FBI last year felt it needed to warn healthcare providers that their cybersecurity systems are lax compared to other sectors.

Dell SecureWorks, an information security services company, has recently identified several underground marketplaces where hackers are selling information packages known as “Kitz.” These contain verified health insurance info, SSNs, bank account info/logins (account and routing numbers, account type), driver’s licenses, full names, addresses, and phone numbers. In addition, the buyer can get counterfeit physical documents and hardware related to the identity data in the package (e.g., credit cards, driver’s license, insurance cards, etc.) The price is in the $1,200-$1,300 range per Kitz, which is far more lucrative than selling just a stolen credit card number.

With health insurance information, the criminal impersonates hacking victims to obtain medical care or to purchase expensive medical equipment, such as motorized wheelchairs, that can then be resold. Since it often takes healthcare providers longer to detect this type of fraud than credit card companies or banks, the abuser will generally have more time to wreak havoc.

What to do if you’re an Anthem customer? Anthem has set up a website to serve as a clearinghouse for information. Other sites, such as Bloomberg and Huffington Post, are offering advice as well.

*Bits & Bytes*

Is your new “Smart TV” spying on you? Samsung has been all over the news the past few days due to a sentence in its privacy policy for its new Internet-connected Smart TV under the voice recognition section which reads: “Please be aware that if your spoken words include personal or other sensitive information, that information will be among the data captured and transmitted to a third party through your use of Voice Recognition.” Yikes.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation pointed out that the concept of a TV that spies on you is straight out of George Orwell’s 1984. Samsung rejects concerns over the Orwellian privacy policy, however, stating that the ability to control the TV using voice commands can be deactivated at any time and that “any data gathering or their use is carried out with utmost transparency and we provide meaningful options for consumers to freely choose or to opt out of a service.”

As creepy as Samsung’s privacy policy may sound, we should note that this voice control technology is already everywhere. Your Xbox does this with Kinect, and your iPhone does this with Siri. All these products work basically the same way.

That same Samsung TV may also start showing you ads in very unexpected places, like during screenings of your own home movies. Methinks Samsung is going to have to rethink its whole software design system pretty soon.

Microsoft has also been in the news a lot recently, but in a good way. The company recently announced that it turned last year’s $200 million Acompli acquisition into Outlook for iOS and Android, as it has suddenly become a red-hot mobile app developer. Microsoft now has more than 100 iOS and Android apps (to think I was once admonished for releasing its first one… no sour grapes, though. Some pioneer has to take the arrows—right Gary?).

Meanwhile, Satya NaDella just celebrated his one-year anniversary as Microsoft CEO, and it sounds like the company’s employees are as excited about the work he’s doing as the outside world is.

Microsoft also made waves raising over $10 billion in debt, the biggest bond raise of the year, more even than Apple’s recent monster offering. The company plans to use the Scrooge McDuck-worthy pile of money to buy back stock, which it expects to make a better return on than the cost of borrowing, just a measly 2.7%.

As on-demand mobile services continue to transform the service economy, will there eventually be an Uber for everything? And will Uber itself ever accomplish its goal of becoming cheaper and more convenient than owning your own car? Economics says it should be able to, as most of our cars sit idle for all but a fraction of the day and there’s lots of slack in the labor pool.

Google says that 5% of all Google searches are health related. That’s 2,000 such searches every second. To appease this huge market of individuals with medical conditions, hypochondriacs, and folks who are just plain curious, the company is introducing high-quality medical data to its search engine in the next few days that will be displayed to users as part of the Knowledge Graph. According to Google, “We’ll show you typical symptoms and treatments, as well as details on how common the condition is—whether it’s critical, if it’s contagious, what ages it affects, and more.”

In a somewhat bizarre story from Quartz this week, apparently millions of Facebook users have no idea they’re using the Internet. Surveys conducted in Asia and Africa found that the number of people who had responded saying they used Facebook was much higher than those who said they used the Internet… though it also could just be a poorly designed survey.

Today, 300 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute. Check out this fascinating piece on how YouTube changed the world. Amazing what happens when you lower the barriers of entry to a market.

Is Twitter in danger of becoming the Bing of social media? A lot of people love Twitter. “But a lot of people just don’t get it,” and the company “has never quite communicated a clear enough reason for them to try.” And that’s translating into sluggish user growth, which was a paltry 1.4% in the most recent quarter. But the company is still able to grow revenue at a rapid clip—it posted year-over-year topline growth of 97.4% in the fourth quarter, which has helped propel the stock to its highest level since late October.

Intel has a new plan to get women interested in wearables… by making the technology, well, wearable. Ayse Ildeniz, the VP of Intel’s New Devices Group “says collaborations between fashionistas and engineers are the key to developing wearable tech that women actually want to wear.” I’m still surprised this bad-ass little jacket never caught on.

Yelp just bought the food-delivery business Eat24 for $134 million to expand its food operations business. Yelp is well known for providing reviews and listings for restaurants, but it also allows users to book tables at those restaurants and offers deals at those establishments, competing with both OpenTable and the many Groupon clones of the world. Moving into this new vertical is a natural fit, according to the company. “As more food ordering transactions move online, further integrating Eat24 will enhance our user experience,” said Yelp CEO and cofounder Jeremy Stoppleman. Maybe it will be enough to help it recover some of the 50% or so the stock has lost from highs of about a year ago.

Qualcomm was fined nearly $1 billion by Chinese antitrust regulators for charging license fees that were too high, according to China’s National Development and Reform Commission. Chinese regulators have set new terms for licensing rates. It’s a hefty fine for Qualcomm, but it does mark the end of a long investigation that hurt the company’s ability to collect licensing revenue in China at all. Still, that the government will change private party contracts is proof that China’s economic policy still has a ways to go.

#OpISIS. Hacker group Anonymous is apparently targeting ISIS under the campaign name #OpISIS. Along with RedCult, the hacktivist group has already taken down hundreds of social media accounts belonging to ISIS, and the campaign is far from over. This is a fascinating change for an organization largely known for its anti-government, borderline anarchist views.

We pay a lot for data on our mobile devices. See how you can reduce your mobile data usage in six easy steps.

Finally, check out CNET’s deck of the most-anticipated tech of the year. Reported by Proactive Investors 3 hours ago.

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A.M. Best Affirms Ratings of the Members of Allstate Financial Companies

February 12, 2015, 9:45 am

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A.M. Best Affirms Ratings of the Members of Allstate Financial Companies

OLDWICK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A.M. Best has affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of A+ (Superior) and the issuer credit ratings (ICR) of “aa-” of the key life/health insurance members of the Allstate Financial Companies (Allstate Financial). In addition, A.M. Best has affirmed the debt rating of “aa-” of the remaining outstanding note issued under the funding agreement-backed securities programs of Allstate Financial’s lead life company, Allstate Life Insurance Company (ALIC). The out Reported by Business Wire 2 hours ago.

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The Fix: Which image of Obama mugging for BuzzFeed’s cameras diminishes the presidency the most, ranked

February 12, 2015, 10:20 am

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The #Millennial-friendly website BuzzFeed has taken over for Zach Galifianakis as the White House's preferred video venue for encouraging young people to sign up for health insurance. You remember the Galifianakis video, of course; Obama's self-deprecating appearance on the fake interview show last year was credited with a big boost in traffic (however short-lived) to Healthcare.gov. Reported by Washington Post 2 hours ago.

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HealthPlans.com’s New Survey Finds Only One-Third of Respondents Saw Improvements in Healthcare.gov

February 12, 2015, 10:49 am

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HealthPlans.com’s New Survey Finds Only One-Third of Respondents Saw Improvements in Healthcare.gov

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--HealthPlans.com, one of the most visited independent consumer health insurance sites, according to comScore, today announced the results of a national survey designed to get a snapshot of consumer satisfaction about Obamacare as the second open enrollment period comes to a close. Surveying individuals between December 17, 2014 and January 5, 2015 who had shopped for health insurance between November 15th and December 15, 2014, the “American Sentiments on Open Enrol Reported by Business Wire 1 hour ago.

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Last weekend to buy health insurance

February 12, 2015, 11:18 am

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Last weekend to buy health insurance Reported by ajc.com 51 minutes ago.

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As sign-up deadline nears, a new risk for Obama health law

February 12, 2015, 11:40 am

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Thousands of people are signing up for health insurance this weekend as a federal deadline looms. They may not realize it, but their coverage under President Barack Obama's health care law could be short-lived. Reported by ajc.com 30 minutes ago.

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As Sign-up Deadline Nears, a New Risk for Obama Health Law

February 12, 2015, 11:43 am

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Supreme Court could unravel Obama's gains in health insurance coverage; subsidies at risk Reported by ABCNews.com 27 minutes ago.

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As sign-up deadline nears, a new risk for Obama health law

February 12, 2015, 12:30 pm

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands of people signing up for health insurance this weekend may not realize it, but their coverage under President Barack Obama's law could be short-lived. [...] Obamacare" opponents who brought the lawsuit argue that the law's literal wording allows the federal government to pay those subsidies only in states that have set up their own insurance markets, or exchanges. The administration and Democratic lawmakers who wrote the law say Congress' clear intent was to provide subsidies to people in every state. [...] if the plaintiffs succeed, beneficiaries living in the 37 states where the federal government is running the markets would lose their subsidies. Two independent estimates say about 8 million people would drop coverage in a chain reaction that would also send premiums zooming for self-pay customers buying individual policies outside of the exchanges. Yet blue-state residents could also be affected if Obama is forced into a negotiation with the Republican-led Congress and agrees to major changes. Because a Supreme Court decision against the White House would rearrange health care politics, "you don't know what could come out of that process," said Anthony Wright, executive director of Health Access California, a consumer coalition. Reported by SeattlePI.com 1 day ago.

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Cheesecake Factory Reports Sweet and Sour Notes

February 12, 2015, 12:37 pm

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Cheesecake Factory Reports Sweet and Sour Notes

Filed under: Company News, Earnings, Market News, Restaurants, Investing

*Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg/Getty Images*

When it comes to sheer sales volume in casual dining, it's hard to beat Cheesecake Factory (CAKE). The restaurant chain known for its massive portions and even larger dessert menu leads the industry in sales per restaurant, with the typical eatery generating $10.5 million in annual sales. However, even casual dining's top dog is showing signs of mortality, and that was on display for investors when Cheesecake Factory reported quarterly results after Wednesday's market close.

Revenue climbed 5 percent from the prior year to $499.7 million during the holiday quarter, fueled by the opening of 10 new locations over the past year and a 1.4 percent uptick in comparable-restaurant sales.

Cheesecake Factory has now come through with five years of positive quarterly comps, but this doesn't mean that everything's humming along at the chain. For starters, guest traffic actually declined in 2014. Guests spending more has offset the 1 percent dip in traffic.

*Higher Costs for Labor, Supplies*

There's also a problem on the bottom line. Net income plunged 26 percent to $24.5 million or 48 cents a share. Analysts were holding out for a profit of 60 cents a share. That's a pretty big miss, but investors should be used to this by now. Cheesecake Factory fell short of Wall Street profit targets during all four quarters of 2014.

There are plenty of factors eating at Cheesecake Factory's margins. Dairy prices spiked this year, and even though those food costs are off their summertime highs, it still has an unfavorable year-over-year impact. Cheesecake Factory is also experiencing high labor costs, including an unusual uptick in group medical claims that have boosted its health insurance expenses.

This isn't Cheesecake Factory at its best, and the stock opened lower on Thursday on the heels of the report. However, it would be a mistake to dismiss one of casual dining's biggest success stories.

*Sweet Dreams*

Cheesecake Factory still has plenty of room to grow. It feels that the U.S. can support 300 locations, and it's just at 177 locations today. It opened 10 restaurants last year, and it's hoping to open as many as 11 units in 2015. At this pace we're looking at more than a decade before the concept saturates the market, and that's before considering international possibilities: It has three licensing partners exploring ways to grow overseas. Mexico got its first Cheesecake Factory last year, and growth continues in Asia and the Middle East.

This doesn't mean that Cheesecake Factory is resting on its laurels. It points out how it's exploring new concepts either by developing them in-house or through acquisitions. Cheesecake Factory thought it had a great sister concept in the slightly more upscale Grand Lux Cafe brand, but it's been struggling lately. Cheesecake Factory made the unusual move on Wednesday night of announcing that it will no longer break out the comparable-restaurant sales performance at Grand Lux in its quarterly earnings releases and conference call discussions, suggesting that the concept is still challenging. Grand Lux makes up less than 10 percent of the overall revenue, but that didn't stop Cheesecake Factory from talking about the concept when it was doing well.

Cheesecake Factory knows that it needs to work on winning back customers. It's following Chili's and Applebee's by embracing mobile payment options to get fed customers settled up faster. Being able to turn its tables faster is a logical way to keep wait times low and increase traffic, but after coming up short on the bottom line through 2014, the bigger challenge will be margins.

The chain's bottom-line guidance for 2015 is uninspiring. It's eyeing earnings per share between $2.08 and $2.20 this year, below the $2.43 that analysts were forecasting ahead of the report. That's not sitting well with growth investors who were used to Cheesecake Factory's results coming up as big as the chain's signature portions. These are challenging times even for the high-volume rock star of casual dining.

Motley Fool contributor Rick Munarriz owns shares of The Cheesecake Factory, Inc. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. Hungry for some good stocks? To read about our favorite high-yielding dividend stocks for any investor, check out our free report.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments Reported by DailyFinance 1 day ago.

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Court Case Threatens to End Obamacare Subsidies

February 12, 2015, 2:57 pm

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Thousands of people signing up for health insurance this weekend may not realize it, but their coverage under President Barack Obama's law could be short-lived.The 2015 enrollment season, which ends Sunday, has avoided last year's website meltdown so far. But a Supreme... Reported by Newsmax 21 hours ago.

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Investors just told this startup it was worth $450 million, and it could be the kiss of death

February 12, 2015, 1:44 pm

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Investors just told this startup it was worth $450 million, and it could be the kiss of death

From on-demand groceries to disappearing photos, startups are raising a lot of money. And valuations have skyrocketed.

When Instagram was acquired by Facebook for $1 billion in 2012, the number was jaw-dropping. WhatsApp's $19 billion acquisition two years later made Instagram's sale seem cheap. Now, companies like Uber are raising $1 billion+ rounds before they even hit the public markets.

In these frothy times, investors are throwing eye-popping sums at early-stage companies.

On Wednesday, news broke that Jet.com, a startup that wants to compete with Amazon, raised $140 million at a $450—600 million valuation. Before that, it raised $80 million.

The catch: it hasn't launched yet.

So that's $220 million for a startup that has no minimum viable product, no proof of concept, and isn't open for business.

What. The. Heck.

More specifically, what the heck are investors thinking?

Sometimes, big early bets work out. Tesla and Workday both raised tens of millions early in their lifecycles; now they're publicly-traded companies. Wayfair and Github raised more than $100 million during their first rounds of financing, but they bootstrapped their ways to proven business models first. Oscar, a year-old health-insurance startup, also raised $80 million pre-launch.

Most often, raising that much money during a startup's infancy is the kiss of death. Founders spend the money carelessly and there's no urgency to figure out a business model.

Take Fab for example. Within its first year, the e-commerce startup raised over $150 million. One year later, it spent almost all of the cash and realized it had no sustainable business model. Airtime, Sean Parker's video startup, raised $33 million and had a celebrity-filled launch, then flopped. Clinkle boasted the largest seed round in Silicon Valley history at $25 million then failed to launch its payment product.

So again, what are Jet.com founder Marc Lore, and his investors thinking?

One person with knowledge of the Jet deal attempted to explain investors' logic.

There are two types of startups, this person reasoned: consumer products, and industry-changing products. Consumer products like Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter don't need much money when they launch; they just need to create a minimum viable product. Later, while they scale, they need tons of money to maintain servers, hire top talent, and sustain growth. After they scale, they figure out how to monetize.

Industry-changing startups, like ones tackling healthcare, education or financial services, require gobs of money up front. Jet.com's goal is to innovate on product prices. Its technology adjusts prices in real-time based on where the user is located, and how he or she bundles items in online shopping carts. Both of these factors can decrease shipping costs, which enable Jet to offer prices that compete with, and are ideally lower, than other retailers like Amazon.

"With Jet, they are raising a tremendous amount of money so they can build the infrastructure to support their model," this person said. "There is a tremendous amount of risk involved but it takes capital to try and compete with Amazon."

Marc Lore, Jet.com's founder and CEO, says the $140 million round he just raised was "opportunistic." Fundraising is usually a long, distracting process for startups, and now he doesn't have to worry about that after Jet launches.

"Dilution is the downside, but you have the capital ready to go," Lore explains. "I don’t want to be distracted when the business starts to take off the way we believe it will. Having the money puts us in a great position. We’re not just going to spend it in a different way than we would [if we didn't have it]. It’s just to support the growth that we believe will happen."

Still, it's hard to think of any startup that's raised gobs of money before launch and survived.

Andy Weissman, a partner at Union Square Ventures in New York, doesn't think generalizations work with startups, even one as mind-boggling as Jet.com.

"Probably the only thing I've learned about startups is that most attempts to generalize fails," Weissman tweeted. "The harder question then is to figure out what are outliers and what are patterns later to match."

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NOW WATCH: Research Reveals Why Men Cheat, And It's Not What You Think Reported by Business Insider 22 hours ago.

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Investors just told this startup it was worth $450 million. Now it might be doomed.

February 12, 2015, 1:55 pm

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Investors just told this startup it was worth $450 million. Now it might be doomed.

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What Happens To The ACA If The Petitioners In King v Burwell Win At The Supreme Court?

February 13, 2015, 1:08 am

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By Tom Miller and Grace-Marie Turner One of the mechanisms through which the Affordable Care Act (ACA) expands access to health insurance is through tax subsidies provided to individuals to help offset the cost of health insurance. These subsidies are only available if people purchase highly-regulated and -mandated policies that are [...] Reported by Forbes.com 11 hours ago.

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'Innovation Waivers' Allow States to Experiment, Try to Improve Upon ACA

February 12, 2015, 4:11 pm

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It's easy to think of the Affordable Care Act as monolithic national policy, a federal program so big that it is impregnable and impervious to change. But that would be wrong.

In fact, there are provisions in the ACA that allow states to change major parts of the law as long as those changes preserve the ACA's goals of establishing quality, affordable health care coverage.

Those provisions are known as "innovation waivers." Technically, they are called "Section 1332,""2017" or "state innovation" waivers.

They were the brainchild of Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon. He saw innovation waivers as a way for states to design systems for expanding and delivering health care coverage that could look very different from the ACA. The federal government would allow states to restructure their approach to health care reform by waiving and replacing some key provisions of the law.

The innovation waivers received bipartisan support and became Section 1332 of the law. The waivers were lauded and endorsed by the Obama administration.

States have often been called laboratories for national reforms, and opponents of the ACA have argued that state-based initiatives are a better alternative than a system imposed through federal regulations and mandates, so the notion of waivers would seem to appeal to a broad spectrum of policy-makers.

Under Section 1332, states would be allowed to waive one or more of four central provisions in the ACA beginning on Jan. 1, 2017:

*The individual mandate*, which requires individuals to purchase health insurance or pay a tax penalty. Alternative options could include expanding or narrowing exemptions, increasing or decreasing penalties, implementing a late-enrollment penalty (like the one used in Medicare) or limiting open-enrollment opportunities.

*The employer mandate*, which imposes federal tax penalties on large employers (with 50 or more full-time equivalent employees) who fail to offer affordable and comprehensive insurance coverage. Alternative options include exempting mid-sized employers, raising or lowering the requirements for qualifying coverage, modifying the definition of covered employees or requiring a percentage of payroll to be paid in benefits or taxes.

This mandate has been postponed twice by the Obama administration and is currently the focus of a lawsuit filed against the president by the U.S. House of Representatives. Barring any legal action, the mandate will take affect for large employers (with 100 or more employees) in 2015. For medium-sized employers with 50 to 99 employees, the provision has been postponed until 2016.

*Essential health benefits and subsidies*; the state alternative must ensure that insurance coverage is as comprehensive and affordable as it is under the ACA. Alternatives could include expanding or reducing subsidy eligibility, reducing subsidy grace periods, adjusting income boundaries for cost-sharing eligibility, or designing an alternative benefit and subsidy strategy.

*Qualified health plan certification and health insurance exchanges*; states can eliminate or alter certification of Qualified Health Plans, including essential-health-benefit requirements, annual limits on total cost sharing, actuarial value standards for metal-tier plan categories (bronze, silver, gold and platinum), as well as the definition of individual and small- and large-group insurance markets. States can also modify or eliminate the requirement to establish health insurance exchanges as the exclusive mechanism for enrolling consumers and determining their eligibility for subsidies. Alternatives include replacing current exchanges with one or more private marketplaces, eliminating the non-exchange market, allowing state exchanges to function as an active purchaser in rate setting and allowing subsidy-eligible consumers to purchase coverage directly from an agent or broker.

Federal funding for premium and cost-sharing subsidies would be passed directly to the state to pay for the state's plan. The Department of Health and Human Services would determine the annual "pass-through funding" based on an analysis of subsidy costs in other states.

Not all provisions of the federal health care law can be sidelined. States can't reinstate exclusions for pre-existing conditions or eliminate the guaranteed issue of coverage. Insurance companies can't re-establish old rating factors (like gender rating or claims history) that were prohibited under the ACA. And states will have to prove that their alternative would provide coverage to as many people as the ACA would without the waiver.

A state plan must also offer "coverage and cost-sharing protections" against excessive out-of pocket costs. In addition, coverage must be just as "comprehensive and affordable" as that currently offered through state or federal health insurance exchanges. Finally, since the state plan will likely be federally funded, the waiver can't increase the federal deficit.

Those are demanding requirements, but the innovation waivers offer states the chance to build a better mousetrap.

Even though there is no official deadline for applying for an innovation waiver, states will have to begin that process this year in order to pass legislation and negotiate with the federal government so that waivers can begin in 2017. Applications must include an actuarial and economic analysis, an implementation timeline and a 10-year budget proposal. States must also indicate how the plan would meet the ACA's goals of coverage expansion, affordability, cost containment, comprehensive coverage and the impact on provisions of the ACA that will not be waived.

Applications must be approved by the secretary of Health and Human Services as well as the secretary of the Treasury.

The latest Supreme Court challenge to the ACA, King v. Burwell, which the court will hear in March, could have an impact on innovation waivers. That decision will determine whether states with federal rather than state-based exchanges can receive subsidy funding. If the court sides with opponents of the law, Republican-controlled states that would like to use waivers to implement reforms would no longer have access to the source of funding for implementation of alternative plans.

Nevertheless, some states have already picked up the gauntlet. Vermont, Hawaii and Minnesota are expected to file an application for a 1332 waiver. And innovation waivers may represent another option for states like Arkansas and Iowa that want to implement a private alternative to Medicaid expansion.

The bottom line is that Section 1332 provisions offer a practical state-based alternative to the very old and hyper-political "repeal and replace" debate. Here is the opportunity for single-payer advocates on the left, free-market advocates on the right and everyone else in between to offer alternatives that could deliver results equal to or better than the ACA. Reported by Huffington Post 20 hours ago.

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Krauthammer on Obama and private enterprise: ‘He still doesn’t get it’

February 12, 2015, 5:27 pm

≫ Next: Anthem data breach poses a big test for its CEO

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Syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer said Thursday on “Special Report with Bret Baier” that President Obama’s accusation that Staples is gaming the system so they don’t have to provide health insurance to their workers illustrates the president’s fundamental misunderstanding of private enterprise. Reported by FOXNews.com 19 hours ago.

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Anthem data breach poses a big test for its CEO

February 12, 2015, 6:27 pm

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In unusually blunt terms, the chief executive of Anthem Inc. told investors recently that his company and the health insurance industry rank last in customer service. Reported by L.A. Times 18 hours ago.

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Advanced Patient Advocacy Director of Operations to Speak at the 2015 HFMA Dixie Institute

February 13, 2015, 12:06 am

≫ Next: Bristol Healthcare Services - ICD-10 Readiness and Transition

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Advanced Patient Advocacy, LLC (APA) announced today that Director of Operations, Laura Adkins, will speak at the 2015 Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) Dixie Institute in Charleston, SC on February 18th, 2015.

Richmond, Virginia (PRWEB) February 13, 2015

Advanced Patient Advocacy, LLC (APA) announced today that Director of Operations, Laura Adkins, will speak at the 2015 Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) Dixie Institute in Charleston, SC on February 18th, 2015.

Ms. Adkins we be presenting “Changing the Look and Feel of Patient Advocacy at a Non-Profit Healthcare System” along with a client representative from Beaufort Memorial Hospital. The participants will be walked through a case study spanning two years of process improvement within patient financial advocacy programs at a 197 bed non-profit community hospital. In addition to sharing the steps taken to serve the medically indigent, the presenters will discuss next steps in developing patient segmentation protocols pre-service to properly connect patients with resources when patient engagement is at its peak.

Ms. Adkins has presented at a number of HFMA conferences and has provided education to healthcare professionals on topics such as how healthcare reform will affect provider enrollment, strategies to mitigate risk and maximize revenue and techniques to integrate Health Insurance Exchange enrollment.

“I’m pleased and honored to have been asked to present at the Dixie Institue. I look forward to sharing success stories with attendees and suggesting steps to help improve the financial performance of their organization.” said Laura Adkins, Director of Operations for Advanced Patient Advocacy.

Advanced Patient Advocacy, LLC is a privately owned company that provides a comprehensive suite of enrollment services to healthcare organizations to assist patients in navigating and connecting to payer solutions. Advanced Patient Advocacy services healthcare organizations on a nationwide basis and has built its reputation by creating customized screening and enrollment solutions to address client specific needs.

For more information about Advanced Patient Advocacy, call 877.272.2532 or visit http://www.aparesults.com. Reported by PRWeb 12 hours ago.

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Bristol Healthcare Services - ICD-10 Readiness and Transition

February 13, 2015, 12:06 am

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ICD-10 is set to replace the older ICD-9 soon. Bristol Healthcare Services has fully prepared itself to make this transition an easier one for the organizations.

Cerritos, CA (PRWEB) February 13, 2015

It is in CMS news that the ICD-10 will be implemented from October 1st, 2015. The impact of the Affordable Care Act, ICD-10 transition is near. Bristol Healthcare Services, a leading Medical Billing, Medical Coding and Revenue Cycle Management Company, is fully competent to make this transition to ICD-10 easier for organizations. With over 50 man years of experience, Bristol provides immediate remote coding services to several healthcare facilities. Eliminating operating and administrative expenses, Bristol’s medical coding team aims to nullify the challenges of present day health facilities. Bristol has already equipped itself with training and other measures to foster change to ICD-10. Bristol Healthcare Services has been delivering high quality Medical Billing and Coding Outsourcing Services to its clients consistently.

This transition has required for certified medical coders to gain expertise and training in ICD-10 and for organizations to make preparatory measures to welcome ICD-10 to the healthcare system. Keeping this in mind, Bristol has announced the availability of free ICD-10 medical coding trials with the new coding system from August 2015.

A brief on ICD-10

According to the Centre for Medicare and Medicaid Services, ICD-10 - the new healthcare transaction codes is required for everyone covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. This transition is occurring because the ICD-9 is 30 years old and is obsolete and inconsistent with current medical practises. Moreover, it holds very limited data of patients’ medical conditions and inpatient procedures. ICD-10 is more up to date with complete patient information leading to effective coding and thereby, better reimbursements.

Therefore, the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) has recommended that “the industry keep its momentum going, continuing to prepare by strengthening clinical documentation improvement programs, working with vendors on transition readiness, training coders and other stakeholders, and proceeding with dual coding.” Bristol Healthcare has been strictly following these recommendations.

Bristol’s preparation and accuracy towards ICD-10

It is to be noted that Bristol began its preparation in 2012 and has continued to plan and train towards embracing this change by constantly updating itself with every webinar and discussion forums on ICD-10. Bristol’s coders are undergoing ICD-10 training provided by top coding academic organizations. Its coders have been trained continuously through classroom, online training programs, desktop coding software, online software, medical coding books and so on.

CMS affirms that products and services will be obsolete if steps are not taken in preparation to comply with ICD-10. And so, significant amount of planning is required to avoid reimbursement issues and interruptions in workflow. Bristol’s administration has comprehensively planned towards this transition.

Bristol has taken effort to ensure that system upgrades or replacements have geared to accommodate to the transition. Confirmation required from billing services, clearing houses and practice management software vendors in meeting with the compliance date has been put in place. Bristol’s project structure has been established as recommended by CMS. It has continued to assess business and policy impacts by the ICD-10. Risk management has also been established well.
Bristol has provided significant training in the new code

ICD-10 is a major undertaking for all and it is for the best interest to commence preparation. Therefore, training period of six months before the compliance date has been recommended by AHIMA. Training is projected to take 16 hours for coders and 50 hours for inpatient coders. Certified coders can maintain their credentials on the condition that they have received training in ICD-10.

Bristol’s coders are certified from AHIMA and AAPC. They have been trained to face the challenges that may be posed during this new ICD-10 transition. Also, they hold the know-how to keep client’s discomfort non-existent during this period. The coders follow all the prescribed guidelines and use advanced technology. They focus to avoid down-coding or up-coding and strive to render accuracy.

Bristol’s specializations

Bristol’s coding specialities are HCC coding, specialty coding, Emergency Room coding, HEDIS auditing, Inpatient Hospital coding, Evaluation and Management Coding, Radiology coding, Anaesthesia coding, Surgery coding and, Lab & Pathology coding. Every project is assigned to a specialty specific coder to ensure quality. Bristol also practices transparent coding methodologies for the convenience of its clients; ensuring costs are kept to the minimum.

Free trial on ICD-10

Conducting test transactions using the new codes was part of the recommendations offered by credentialing organizations. It ensures that business functions will continue normally through the transition. The elements of ICD-10 testing include test types, test plans, test cases, test data and also testing key considerations. And, in that path, Bristol is well prepared to start providing free trials on ICD-10 coding from August, 2015.

Benefit from the efficiency and expertise of Bristol Healthcare Services

With respect to ICD-10, Bristol applies easy transition methodologies. It has onshore and offshore capabilities with quick turnaround time. Bristol aims to accord high importance to its clients by means of customised client services. It strictly possesses certified coding resources from AHIMA and AAPC. It is known to reduce overhead costs by 40% and provide cost effective solutions. Bristol’s operating procedures are rated as one of the best. Its Medical Coding team are careful to analyze medical records and provide continuous feedback on up-coding, down-coding and other requirements. They possess internal auditors who pursue coding denials and offer quick remedies. Bristol usually benefits from clean claims and fewer denials. Its suggestions have saved its clients’ money.

Recently, Bristol’s coders cleared four months backlog of an organisation within two weeks. Their recommendations have changed the entity’s documentation for the better. With several testimonies to witness, Bristol’s efficiency has been established.

ICD-10 transition through Bristol

The ICD-10 aims to revolutionize the health care system of the country. Allowing greater scrutiny of diagnoses and needs, the transition to ICD-10 is not optional. Planning, preparation and testing are the key steps for a smooth transition. Bristol Healthcare Services with this regard has reached the testing stage of its transition due to commence in August 2015.

For more information on Bristol’s capabilities specific to ICD-10, please visit: http://www.bristolhcs.com
Bristol Healthcare Services Inc.,
Phone: 800-253-7320
Email: Info(at)bristolhcs(dot)com Reported by PRWeb 12 hours ago.

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