Credit ratings news and information

The system formed by the merger of Provena Health and Resurrection Health Care Corp. wants to boost its credit rating a notch, but achieving that goal will require the tough tasks of raising revenue and cutting costs.
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Fitch Ratings said new debt to finance WellPoint's $4.9 billion deal for Amerigroup would weaken key financial measures, and the ratings agency downgraded the insurer's long-term issuer default and issue ratings. The outlook for WellPoint's long-term issuer default rating is negative, the rating...
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Healthcare providers that operate in Massachusetts could be at a disadvantage following the implementation of a new cost-containment law, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said.
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Moody's Investors Service said its analysts likely won't change state credit ratings based on whether states do or don't expand Medicaid under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
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As the operating environment continued to challenge not-for-profit providers, Moody's Investors Service last quarter downgraded 32% more hospital debt than it upgraded.
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Junk bonds of healthcare providers are beating the high-yield market after underperforming in the first five months of the year, as the reform ruling boosts investor optimism.
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Fitch Ratings analysts said they expect the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act “will continue to face significant legislative challenges,” but no ratings changes would follow the Supreme Court's decision to uphold most of the law.
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The risk that banks represent to healthcare borrowers since the credit crisis is by now familiar. Hospitals that enter debt markets with bank credit backing can find investors wary or uninterested when banks' own credit strength falters. That can drive up interest rates or force borrowers to...
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West Penn Allegheny Health System, with help from insurer Highmark, saw its B+ credit upheld by Fitch Ratings. The New York rating agency, which downgraded the Pittsburgh health system in December, also changed its credit outlook to stable from evolving.
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Fairview Health Services saw its credit rating from Moody's Investors Service drop one notch, and analysts said the outlook for the system is negative, in part because of the exit of its chief executive officer and turmoil over the health system's contracts with Accretive Health.
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