Format Of Cost Estimate

Health-plan forms are put through the acid test: focus groups

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's health care law would let several million middle-class people get nearly free insurance meant for the poor, a twist government number crunchers say they discovered only after the complex bill was signed.
The change would affect early retirees: A married couple could have an annual income of about $64,000 and still get Medicaid, said officials who make long-range cost estimates for the Health and Human Services department.
Up to 3 million more people could qualify for Medicaid in 2014 as a result of the anomaly. That's because, in a major change from today, most of their Social Security benefits would no longer be counted as income for determining eligibility. It might be compared to allowing middle-class people to qualify for food stamps.
Medicare chief actuary Richard Foster says the situation keeps him up at night.
“I don't generally comment on the pros or cons of policy, but that just doesn't make sense,” Foster said during a question-and-answer session at a recent professional society meeting.
“This is a situation that got no attention at all,” added Foster. “And even now, as I raise the issue with various policymakers, people are not rushing to say ... we need to do something about this.”
Indeed, administration officials and senior Democratic lawmakers say it's not a loophole but the result of a well-meaning effort to simplify rules for deciding who will get help with insurance costs under the new health care law. Instead of a hodgepodge of rules, there will be one national policy.
“This simplification will stop people from falling into coverage gaps and may cause some to be newly eligible for Medicaid and others to no longer qualify,” said Brian Cook, spokesman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
But states have been clamoring for relief from Medicaid costs, complaining that just these sorts of federal rules drive up spending and limit state options.
— The Associated Press

BUFFALO, N.Y. — At an office tucked next to a department store in a shopping mall, Susan Kleimann pushed two sets of papers across a table to a woman in her 40s wearing a gray sweatshirt. “We aren't testing you,” assured Kleimann, who runs a market research firm in Bethesda, Md. “We are testing health plan information.”

Kleimann explained that they'd be comparing two documents that described two hypothetical insurance plans.

offshore jobs » #5305- Estimate Coordinator

We are currently looking for an Estimate Coordinator to work with a major oil and gas operator in Houston TX Rate Range 850 - 950 Job Description The project is entering the FEED phase. It is a gas-liquids project in Angola Africa Block 0. The fields are located offshore in up to 450 foot water depth with approximately 4 platforms 45 km of subsea pipelines > 50000 HP high pressure gas compression 27 production wells and greater than 7 gas turbine driven compressors and power generators. Estimated project cost is between 3 to 4 billion. • Coordinate the development of the class 3 estimate • Coordinate all project estimate preparation activities including working closely with multiple FEED contractors • Ensure consistency of format cost breakdown structures etc. across the multiple estimates to ensure that the estimates can be rolled up into the summary estimate. • Perform the roll-up - combining the FEED contractor estimates along with the owners cost estimate into the total project summary.

Cost estimating with microcomputers

GAO Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide: Best Practices for Developing and Managing Capital Program Costs

GAO Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide, Best Practices for Developing and Managing Capital Program Costs

Cost estimating

Improving the Accuracy of Early Cost Estimates for Federal Construction Projects