The drug maker cites headwinds from losses of market exclusivity for the 14% drop in Essential Health revenues.
The merger would make Steward the largest private for-profit hospital operator in the U.S. with 36 facilities across 10 states.
Millions of newly uninsured could cause a spike in costs for health-care providers, who likely would pass the costs on to private payers.
The 420-employer National Business Group on Health recommends public-policy changes relating to the proliferating category of specialty drugs.
The fate of Obamacare is far from the only important thing to watch in the health-care arena this year.
Prescription reimbursement rates "remain our largest challenge and we expect that to continue for the remainder of the fiscal year," the company says.
If the Supreme Court strikes down the law's employer mandate in 34 states, insurers would be forced to raise prices significantly.
Companies with 50 to 99 workers don't necessarily have reason to hope insurers will let them keep their noncompliant plans, despite Obama announcement.
Low-paid workers who now will be eligible for generous federal subsidies to buy health insurance next year may have grounds to sue their employers in 2015.
To what extent Corporate America will embrace this emerging method of delivering employee health care is not yet clear — but a vast transformation appears quite possible.
If Mitt Romney is elected President, all bets are off for the Affordable Care Act.
The Supreme Court opinion was not the one most of them wanted. But now finance chiefs need to work on compliance and make some tough decisions.
