Healthcare industry

Boosted by a rating upgrade, the University of Kentucky plans to competitively issue $281.7 million in new and refunding bonds Tuesday for the UK HealthCare system.

Silver Cross Hospital and Medical Center leads a pack of borrowers slated to come to market through the Illinois Finance Authority this spring.

Standard & Poor’s raised Wisconsin-based Bellin Health’s rating by one level to A-plus ahead of its upcoming $45 million refunding issue.

Renown Regional Medical Center, a Reno, Nev. hospital, received a one-notch rating upgrade to A from A-minus based on its improved financial profile and changes Standard & Poor's made to the way it rates stand-alone hospitals.

Prime Healthcare backed out of deal to purchase California's ailing Daughters of Charity Health System, a six-hospital chain, because it objected to conditions imposed by California Attorney General Kamala Harris.

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter has proposed a 2016 budget proposal that aims to tackle rising pension and healthcare costs.

The state of Kentucky will provide half of the financing needed to build a state-of-the-art medical research facility that will target diseases that disproportionately affect residents of the Commonwealth.

The Sierra Kings Health Care District in California has paid the U.S. Treasury $20,000 to settle tax issues and preserve the tax-exempt status of bonds it sold in 2007 and 2009.

University Hospitals, one of northeast Ohio's largest providers, is in talks to acquire stand-alone hospital Samaritan Regional Health.

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker's proposed $38 billion budget projects $1.6 billion savings in Medicare expenses and establishes an MBTA weather resiliency fund.

Portfolio manager Michael Pepe is buying bonds with 10-year call provisions and hospital bonds with attractive yields to cope with a flat yield curve and tight spreads as the market awaits higher interest rates.

A Feb. 24 proposal from New Jersey Pension and Health Benefit Study Commission provides a "roadmap" to address high costs associated with the state's retiree benefit programs, according to Build America Mutual.

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal has initiated a pilot program to prop up the state's financially ailing rural hospitals.

Moody's Investors Service revised its outlook for Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based Mercy Medical Center to stable from negative Feb. 24, when it affirmed the medical center's A2

Standard & Poor's has assigned a positive outlook to Good Shepherd Medical Center’s BB-minus credit after the East Texas healthcare system restructured $88 million of debt and raised cash through asset sales.

Arkansas saw the largest drop in the percentage of uninsured in 2014, followed closely by Kentucky, according to a recent Gallup poll.

Standard & Poor's placed Samaritan Healthcare's BBB-plus long-term rating and underlying rating on credit watch with negative implications after the Washington state healthcare provider failed to provide timely information.

Hawaii Governor David Ige nominated Brigadier General Joseph Kim, as deputy director of the state's department of taxation.

With hospital issuance up so far in 2015 and likely to stay that way, investors may not be sufficiently compensated for the sector's risks, according to Municipal Market Advisors.

Ascension Health's sale of two Kansas City, Missouri area hospitals to a for-profit was cleared after Ascension agreed to set aside $20 million in sale proceeds to fund acute indigent medical care, Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster said.