The answer to “why weren’t we downgraded” is multifaceted and will depend on each hospital’s circumstances. But there are often three factors at play, including rating tolerance, the role of medians and effective messaging.

A better credit outlook for hospitals, AI takes center stage, staffing troubles at VA hospitals

Kaufman Hall’s 2025 Summer Rating Agency Update offered an early look at how the newly enacted One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) could reshape hospital credit profiles.

Watch our recent Rating Agency panel discussion featuring colleagues from Moody’s, S&P and Fitch. Hear the latest industry outlooks, rating activity through early 2025 and what this means for the healthcare sector.

As Medicare turns 60, new challenges are on the horizon: from site-neutral reforms to payment model shifts. These challenges will be compounded by the One Big Beautiful Bill’s impact. A proactive response will help ensure that hospitals remain vital community institutions in the decades ahead.

Medical office buildings are not just places where care happens: They are strategic assets whose value is shaped by management, market engagement and mindset. If MOBs have not become part of your capital strategy, now is the time to consider how to realize their full value.

The latest Kaufman Hall Report includes a short case study on Geisinger’s utilization management transformation as well as a short interview with Columbia Memorial's CEO on a rural...

A unique rural-academic partnership has enabled a critical access hospital to significantly expand access to services. At the same time, careful financial planning has supported debt issuance for a state-of-the-art facility for the community.

Possible limitations on state directed payment programs could have a significant impact on many hospitals’ bottom line. Organizations should act now to model the impact and identify steps that could help mitigate it.

The impact of federal policy changes on not-for-profit healthcare was the focus of Kaufman Hall’s 2025 Spring Rating Agency update. Our panelists from Fitch, Moody’s and S&P Global discussed potential cuts to the Medicaid program, site neutral payments, the tax-exempt status of private activity bonds and tariffs and supply chain challenges.