Here are five articles recently published by Becker's Hospital Review that offer insight on hospital bond ratings, headwinds coming for children's hospitals and more.
1. Fitch: Minor headwinds coming for US children's hospitals
U.S. nonprofit children's hospitals soon will feel the operational headwinds that are affecting the overall general acute healthcare industry, according to a report by Fitch Ratings.
2. Hospitals are moving to single ratings: Here's why
Through the first six months of 2018, 39 percent of hospital tax-exempt fixed-rate bond issues came with a single rating, up from 21 percent during the same period in 2017, according to research from HFA Partners.
3. Florida hospital deal hinges on a single issue: Should CHS pay up if things go south?
Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems signed a definitive agreement in April to sell the lease to operate Ocala, Fla.-based Munroe Regional Medical Center to a subsidiary of Altamonte Springs, Fla.-based Adventist Health System. The parties want to close the transaction by July 31, but the deal recently hit a speed bump.
4. New Jersey bill caps Medicaid payments at $140 for nonemergent ER visits
The New Jersey legislature passed a bill June 21 that would limit how much the state's Medicaid program pays hospitals for treating low-acuity beneficiaries in the emergency room.
5. HFMA's new chair is outgoing Geisinger CFO Kevin Brennan: 4 things to know
The Healthcare Financial Management Association inducted Kevin Brennan, retiring CFO of Danville, Pa.-based Geisinger Health System, as chair of its board of directors.
More articles on healthcare finance:
Cash-strapped California hospital considers closure
CHS releases results of debt exchange, gets downgraded by Moody's
Washington hospital avoids closure, saves 1,000 jobs