Healthcare industry

Driven by the expansion of the U.S. federal government’s Medicaid program, spending by states in fiscal 2015 rose to its highest rate in 23 years, according to report released by the National Association of Budget Officers on Thursday.

The Nov. 10 agreement between the town of Morristown, N.J., and Atlantic Health System on Morristown Medical Center property tax appeals could have a "ripple effect" for no-for-profit hospitals across the U.S., according to Moody's Investors Service.

Already endangered by state and federal spending cuts, many rural hospitals in Texas are facing additional strain from falling oil and gas prices.

Moody’s Investors Service has revised the University of Chicago Medical Center's outlook to stable from negative thanks to two years of stronger operating margins.

Rating upgrades overlook rural and secondary markets with high unemployment and aging demographics that will continue to challenge hospitals in those markets.

Detroit-based Henry Ford Health System will acquire Allegiance Health, a union that offers benefits for both in what marks the latest in an ongoing wave of healthcare consolidations.

The New Jersey Health Care Facilities Financing Authority appears to be settling a tax dispute with the Internal Revenue Service over revenue bonds it issued in 1993 for Deborah Heart and Lung Center, which later entered into a total return swap.

Standard & Poor's revised its outlook on the Iowa Board of Regents' University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics to stable from negative after a decision to trim capital spending.

Fitch Ratings downgraded three series of bonds issued by the Berks County Municipal Authority, Pa. on behalf of Reading Hospital and Medical Center Project to A-plus.

Moody's upgraded MIT spinoff Broad Institute to Aa3 with a stable outlook from A1 and positive, citing sustained growth and healthy operating cash flow.