Healthcare industry

Puerto Rico health care providers, payers and stakeholders are pressing U.S. lawmakers and administration officials to increase funding for the territory’s Medicaid and Medicare programs in legislation.

WellStar Health System expanded its hospital network to 11 from five after Friday’s closing on the acquisition of five hospitals from for-profit Tenet Health, and a merger with nonprofit West Georgia Health, but its ratings suffered.

Standard & Poor’s downgraded Presence Health two notches to BBB-minus and put the rating on CreditWatch with negative implications.

Baylor Scott & White Health, the largest not-for-profit healthcare system in Texas, will issue $536 million of taxable and $382 million of tax-exempt bonds.

Good Shepherd Health System faces a rising risk of default on $150 million of debt as the East Texas nonprofit seeks a merger partner, Moody’s Investors Service says.

Junk-rated California hospital chain Verity Health received an outlook boost Wednesday, when Standard & Poor’s boosted its outlook to stable from negative while affirming its CCC rating.

The University of Pennsylvania received a one-notch bond rating upgrade from Moody’s Investors Service, to Aa1 from Aa2.

A higher-than-expected 2015 operating loss at Illinois-based Presence Health is expected to trigger a technical default that would allow bondholders and banks to accelerate some debt repayments.

Presence Health, one of the Chicago area’s largest not-for-profit systems, is under review for a downgrade as Moody’s Investors Service digs into its fiscal 2015 results.

The savings are that New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio trumpets from significant changes to the city’s employee health plans are a matter of debate.

The North Broward Hospital District in Florida saw Moody’s Investors Service drop its bond ratings three notches to Baa2 amid a severe decline in revenue and new probes into its operations.

A sharp decline in cash sent the Mission, Texas, Hospital District's rating further into junk territory, according to Moody's Investors Service.

Sacramento, Calif.’s creation of a long-term plan to fund its retiree healthcare benefits has put the city on a more sustainable trajectory, Moody's Investors Service said Friday.

The Wyoming Senate rejected a measure that would have expanded Medicaid in the state, a step Gov. Matt Mead had urged support of and that he said would have brought more federal money to Wyoming.

Verity Health System of California agreed to repay its $278.6 million in junk-rated revenue bonds at a higher interest rate in exchange for relaxed debt service coverage requirements.

New Jersey could achieve more than $2 billion in annual savings by aligning public worker health care benefits more closely to private-sector employer standards, according to a new report released Thursday by Gov. Chris Christie’s bipartisan pension commission.

Fiscally distressed Wayne County, Mich., expects $23 million in fiscal 2016 budget relief from cuts in retiree healthcare benefits that trimmed $850 million from its unfunded liabilities.

In a newspaper column Tuesday, the governor said he would not support budget cuts that could throw universities into financial exigency and close hospitals in order to deal with Louisiana's budget crisis.

California Controller Betty Yee urged public employee unions to negotiate prefunding of retiree healthcare benefits as her office's latest report identified California's OPEB liability at $74.1 billion.

An agreement transferring control of three Maui County hospitals to Kaiser Permanente is said to save the Hawaii government $260 million over 10 years.