Health Management Comments On Medicare Fiscal Year 2013 Inpatient Prospective Payment System Rule

Health Management Associates, Inc. (NYSE: HMA) today announced it has reviewed the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Final Fiscal Year 2013 rule for Medicare Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) issued August 1, 2012.

Health Management owns or operates four hospitals that qualify as Medicare Dependent Hospitals (MDHs). Under the 2013 Medicare IPPS rule, Medicare will eliminate MDH payments, and MDHs will revert to a blended reimbursement rate.

Health Management believes that the elimination of the MDH designation from Health Management’s four MDH hospitals will have an insignificant impact on Health Management’s earnings for 2012.

Based on the fiscal year 2013 Medicare IPPS rule, Health Management believes that its Medicare inpatient rates will increase between 2.2% and 2.4% for the twelve month period beginning on October 1, 2012. These inpatient payments rates are prior to any sequestration reductions. On a net basis, after giving effect to anticipated sequestration reductions, Health Management believes its Medicare inpatient rates for its hospitals will increase between 0.2% and 0.4% for the twelve month period beginning on October 1, 2012.

Health Management is also affirming its diluted EPS from continuing operations objective range for the year ending December 31, 2012 to be between $0.80 and $0.90. This diluted EPS range for 2012 does not include approximately $98 million, or $0.25 per diluted share, of impact expected from interest rate swap accounting and mark-to-market adjustments nor does it include approximately $90 to $120 million of anticipated Medicare and Medicaid Healthcare Information Technology reimbursement.

Health Management enables America's best local health care by providing the people, processes, capital and expertise necessary for its hospital and physician partners to fulfill their local missions of delivering superior health care services. Health Management, through its subsidiaries, operates 70 hospitals with approximately 10,500 licensed beds in non-urban communities located throughout the United States.

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