Talking Numbers: Buy Humana or United Healthcare?

 Highlight transcript below to create clipTranscript:  Print  |  Email Go  Click text to jump within videoTue 02 Apr 13 | 03:30 PM ET Which health insurance stock can keep your portfolio strong? Enis Taner, RiskReversal.com and Zachary Karabell, River Twice Research, discuss.

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The Fiscal Cliff Deal, By The Numbers

Last night, the House of Representatives passed the Senate’s compromise bill to avert the so-called “fiscal cliff.” The bill, dubbed the “American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012,” raised taxes on (some of) the wealthiest Americans, while punting several other budget decisions down the road, including whether or not the so-called “sequester” spending cuts will occur. Here are some important numbers from the bill’s resolution of the fiscal cliff’s tax side:

– The first major tax increase for the wealthy in 20 years. Allowing the expiration of some of the Bush tax cuts amounts to the first major tax increase for the wealthiest Americans since the 1990s.

– The Bush tax cuts expire for just 0.7 percent of taxpayers. The expiration will occur on income in excess of $400,000 (or $450,000 for a couple). This translates into “a little over 1 million Americans” according to the Tax Policy Center. The capital gains and dividend tax will also increase to 20 percent for wealthy earners.

– The top 1 percent will pay an average of $73,633 more in taxes. Bloomberg News noted that, “among households with incomes between $500,000 and $1 million, taxes would go up by an average of $14,812.”

– 77 percent of households will see a tax hike. Due to the expiration of a cut in the payroll tax, most workers will see their taxes increase slightly in 2013. The expiration of the payroll tax cut will deal a significant blow to the economy.

– $4 trillion in deficits and $600 billion in revenue. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the bill will increase the deficit by around $4 trillion over the next ten years compared to a world in which all of the Bush tax cuts expired. However, it raises about $600 billion more in revenue compared to the policies that were in place in 2012.

– $2.50 in spending cuts for every $1 in revenue. As Americans for Tax Fairness noted, “This bill raises $620 billion over 10 years, but $1.5 trillion in budget cuts were already enacted last year; that means for every one dollar in new taxes there have been 2.5 dollars in spending cuts to reduce the deficit.”

– Two million unemployed workers see benefits saved. Without the extension included in the fiscal cliff deal, millions of workers would have seen their federal unemployment insurance pulled out from under them.

– Estate tax giveaway costs billions. The estate tax rate will increase slightly to 40 percent this year with a $5 million exemption, but it would have gone to 55 percent with a $1 million exemption in the absence of a deal. As the Atlantic’s Matt O’Brien noted, “Only 3,730 households will pay the estate tax next year if the exemption is set at $5 million, versus 47,170 if it’s set at $1 million.”

The bill also extended provisions of the farm bill that will prevent milk prices from spiking and included an important provision to help underwater homeowners.

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National Women's Health Week by the Numbers: 20.4 Million

Tuesday is the second day of National Women’s Health Week, and an opportunity for all women to prioritize their health well-being by scheduling annual screening and exams.

President Obama’s health reform law requires that new health insurance plans cover preventive services such as mammograms, pap smears, and well-woman visits with no co-pay or deductible. Because of this provision in the Affordable Care Act, more than 20.4 million women with private health insurance have received preventive health services at no additional cost.

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By the Numbers: 237

President Obama has been focused on making refinancing simpler for responsible homeowners since he took office, and in Nevada, where the President visted Friday, refinancing applications are up 237% since last November.

It began in 2009 when the administration launched the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP), which helped nearly 1 million homeowners save thousands of dollars. But despite that success, the benefits from HARP have been limited because of eligibility requirements and costs associated with the program.

So last October, the President announced that Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Finance Housing Agency would work with lenders to make it easier for even more mortgage holders to refinance.

And it's having an impact: Refinancing applications have increased by 50 percent since the fall.

But the reason that President Obama is in Nevada, calling on Congress to act, is because we've reached the upward limit for what the Obama administration can do alone. As part of his To-Do List, he's calling on lawmakers to cut the red tape so that responsible homeowners across the country who have been paying their mortgage on time can feel secure in their home and refinance at today’s lower rates.

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By the Numbers: $1 Billion

Thursday is the fourth day of National Women’s Health Week. Women often play a leading role in making medical decisions for their families, but their own health needs are often unmet, which is why President Obama worked to make health care more accessible and affordable for women across the country through his health reform law, the Affordable Care Act.

For example, women who purchase health insurance on the individual market pay an additional $1 billion each year because insurance companies charge them more than men, simply because of their gender. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, health insurers will be prohibited from discriminating against women by charging higher premiums.

President Obama’s health reform law also requires new health insurance plans to cover preventive services such as mammograms, pap smears, and well-woman visits with no co-pay or deductible. Because of this provision in the Affordable Care Act, more than 20.4 million women with private health insurance have received preventive health services at no additional cost.

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By the Numbers: 2 Million

Nearly 2 million companies that make new hires or increase wages would receive a tax credit under the small business hiring income tax credit President Obama is calling on Congress to pass.

The tax credit, the third item on President Obama’s job-creating To-Do List for Congress, would encourage more than $200 billion in new hiring and pay raises by providing a 10 percent income tax credit on wages added in 2012. The credit would be available to all companies, but would be capped at $500,000 per business to specifically spur small business hiring. And, companies that claim the credit would be able to do so on a quarterly basis, which means businesses would see tax relief sooner rather than later after making new hires.

By providing targeted tax relief to the businesses that are expanding and making investments in their workforce, the Small Business Hiring Credit will grow the economy, create jobs, and strengthen the recovery. In fact, the Congressional Budget Office recently found that this type of targeted credit is the single most effective business tax option for boosting hiring and spurring economic growth.

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