Congress passed Medicare legislation Wednesday that will extend the states’ health insurance program for children through March of 2009. The legislation essentially freezes S-CHIP funding at present levels, and President Bush is expected to sign the bill into law before the weekend. The House approved the Medicare, Medicaid, and S-CHIP Extension Act of 2007 after the Senate passed the measure earlier in the week. Language in the bill will keep S-CHIP funding at about $5 billion for the next five years. Democrats in both chambers had wanted to increase S-CHIP funding to cover more children than are currently allowed under the program — 95% of children in families with incomes up to 250% of the federal poverty level. Critics of expanding S-CHIP maintained that expanding the program to include more children or adults was a misuse of federal funds. Fourteen states provide coverage to those with incomes above 250%, according to a Georgetown University Health Policy Institute report. Another report, issued by the Congressional Research Service, said that without this extension, nine states — Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Rhode Island — were at risk of being left without S-CHIP reserves. Many states may now have to roll back their programs to come in under federal eligibility requirements or fund the added costs with other state funds. The legislation did not address an Aug. 17 letter from the president, which told states they would no longer receive reimbursements for children in families with income more than 250% of the federal poverty level. In response, at least eight states have filed lawsuits.
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Fitch Ratings said the negative outlook on the BB-plus rating reflects Miami Jewish's thin operating profile.
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The new-issue calendar will be a "good test to see if the higher absolute yields can pull buyers off the sidelines or if underwriters need to widen spreads significantly enough to reprice the entire market to clear the deals," according to Birch Creek strategists.
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The state of emergency will let the governor use the central government's rainy-day fund to provide money to WAPA that semi-autonomous agencies of his government owe the authority. WAPA will use the money to make payments to bondholders and other creditors starting Tuesday.
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"The upgrade is supported by strengthened debt service coverage ratios due to better than expected recovery from the pandemic," Fitch said.
April 22 -
S&P affirmed the state's AA issuer credit rating, citing healthy reserves and plans to increase permanent fund totals to mitigate revenue fluctuations.
April 22 -
The top five bond financings have an average dollar volume of more than $1.9 billion.
April 22