Economy

Massachusetts' new health care cost-containment law could pressure the credit quality of providers by compressing margins, according to Standard & Poor's.

Fitch Ratings last week downgraded $41.1 million of transportation improvement bonds issued by the Butler County Transportation Improvement District, Ohio, to A from AA-minus. The outlook is negative.

The University of Michigan Health System last week announced it has signed an agreement to acquire a piece of MidMichigan Health, a nonprofit system that serves a 14-county region in the center of the state.

Tax-increment financing is an increasingly popular model for cities looking to finance mass transit development, but participants in such projects said Thursday that economic conditions have created several significant challenges for TIF undertakings.

Gov. John Kasich, who has made privatization of state assets a top priority, announced that the state will embark on its first P3 with the construction of a new bridge in downtown Cleveland.

Moody's Investors Service cut its rating to Baa2 from Baa1 on Crittenton Hospital, a stand-alone provider that operates in an affluent Detroit suburb.

The GOP 2012 platform, scheduled to be approved at the party's national convention Tuesday, includes several familiar tax proposals and a handful of initiatives to encourage more private sector involvement in infrastructure finance.

Moody’s Investors Service has revised its outlook on Gundersen Lutheran’s A1 rating to stable from negative in recognition of the hospital system’s strengths and favorable operating performance.

The Southern Environmental Law Center Tuesday filed a federal suit on behalf of conservation groups challenging North Carolina's $1 billion Garden Parkway toll road.

A new projection produced by the Congressional Budget Office shows that both the highway trust fund and transit account, key sources of federal transportation funding, will run out of money in fiscal year 2015 under the recently enacted transportation law.

Australia-based infrastructure development giant Macquarie Capital will advise San Juan, P.R. in its quest to put together a light rail public-private partnership that has been estimated at $400 million, the city announced Monday.

Moody's called a court ruling invalidating the New York MTA's payroll mobility tax a credit negative, while Standard & Poor's is maintaining its credit rating.

Standard & Poor's has raised its rating on the Saratoga County Industrial Development Agency's bonds issued for Saratoga Hospital in New York to A-minus from BBB-plus.

New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority needs "net-zero" settlements with its labor union and to implement fare and toll increases to keep budget gaps from resurfacing and rising, Fitch Ratings said.

Gov. Chris Christie signed legislation on Wednesday to integrate all but two units of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey into Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey.

Moody's Investors Service has placed Saint Peter's University Hospital's Baa3 bond rating on review for downgrade, affecting $165.7 million of outstanding rated debt.

Moody's Investors Service downgraded Lowell General Hospital's debt to Baa2 from Baa1 and removed the rating from under review.

A federal bankruptcy court judge signed an order authorizing American Airline's assumption of its Tulsa maintenance base sublease, paving the way for the bond trustee on $237 million of debt to soon resume payments.

The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority board on Thursday approved new pools of underwriters as it gears up to enter the market with a roughly $200 million issue to launch a $12 billion, 15-year capital program.

Revenue forecasts are an inexact science, but they are a critical part of the rapidly-expanding network of toll roads. When market participants over-rely on them, the result can be a financial meltdown.