Healthcare industry

Most non-profit hospitals are expected to find the 2% Medicare reimbursements cuts that take effect Monday manageable, Fitch Ratings says in a new report.

With its ratings intact, CoxHealth in Missouri next week enters the market with a mostly new-money sale for about $200 million to help finance a major expansion at its main healthcare campus.

Moody's Investors Service last week confirmed its Baa3 rating on Memorial Healthcare and removed the rating from under review. The outlook is positive, Moody's said.

The Detroit Medical Center has dropped plans to build a $50 million outpatient facility in the Detroit suburb of Royal Oak.

Michigan will likely have a federal health insurance exchange instead of a joint state-federal partnership after the state Senate last week recessed for spring break without meeting a federal deadline.

Moody's Investors Service called an Illinois judge's dismissal of litigation challenging the state's retiree healthcare reforms a credit positive for the state.

Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl is challenging the nonprofit status of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pennsylvania's largest employer.

Moody's Investors Service downgraded the rating on bonds sold for Wake Forest Baptist, N.C., to A1 from Aa3 on Wednesday citing an unexpected decline in financial performance. The action affects $597.2 million of outstanding bonds.

Moody's Investors Service last week downgraded to A3 from A2 its rating on Adena Health System, Ohio and revised the outlook to negative from stable.

Standard & Poor's has raised Rush University Medical Center Obligated Group's rating by one notch to A in recognition of the system's new patient tower and good operating performance.

Medicaid and Medicare funding cuts under the new federal health care law could force states to choose whether to compensate hospitals with their own dollars or let hospitals' credit quality decline, Moody's said.

A judge has overturned a step by the State University of New York aimed at restoring financial health to the SUNY Downstate Medical Center.

Indiana University Health, one of the state's largest health care providers, announced this week it is taking "a step back" on a planned new patient tower that carried a price tag as high as $500 million.

Moody's put the Ba2 rating of Good Samaritan Hospital under review, a week after Standard & Poor's downgraded the Lebanon, Pa., system three notches to B-plus.

Some Alabama state legislators upset about the downsizing of Jefferson County, Ala.'s indigent care hospital have filed bills that would increase disclosure requirements and redirect indigent funds.

Fitch Ratings downgraded the underlying ratings on $49 million of Placerville, Calif.'s Marshall Medical Center revenue bonds to junk because of weak finances.

The University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics Authority hits the market Wednesday with a $263 million sale that will nearly double its modest debt levels to help finance a five-year $670 million capital program that includes a new off-campus facility.

The long-term care credit market has stabilized, writes Jon Barasch of Interactive Data Corp. in this commentary.

The Illinois Finance Authority board advanced a handful of small direct or private placements for an array of not-for-profits.

The long-struggling city of Flint, which has been under emergency management for more than a year, is selling nearly $60 million of speculative-grade bonds on behalf of Hurley Medical Center, a city owned facility that serves as the local safety net provider.