Fitch: Rate of Downgrades Slows in U.S. Health Care Sector.NEW YORK New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of -- The U.S. acute care sector faces a great deal of uncertainty in the medium- to long-term outlook, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Fitch Ratings Fitch Ratings An international rating agency for financial institutions, insurance companies, and corporate, sovereign, and municipal debt. Fitch Ratings has headquarters in New York and London and is wholly owned by FIMALAC of Paris. . The uncertainty is attributable to a combination of growing cost pressures from increased labor and capital needs costs, increased competition, and potential cost containment cost containment, n the features of a dental benefits program or of the administration of the program designed to reduce or eliminate certain charges to the plan. at the state and federal levels. In Fitch's acute care portfolio, the ratio of downgrades to upgrades was 1.9:1 (21 downgrades to 11 upgrades) in 2004, an improvement from 2003's ratio of 3.3:1 (26 downgrades to eight upgrades). Fitch affirmed 110 acute care ratings in 2004, and the year-end ratio of downgrades to upgrades has continued to improve since 2000. Rating downgrades have slowed due to overall improvement in business and management practices, as well as revenue growth from continued increases in managed care reimbursement. In the non-acute care sector, 17 ratings were affirmed in 2004 with one upgrade and zero downgrades. Despite the 2004 rating action results, Fitch expects non-acute care downgrades to outpace out·pace tr.v. out·paced, out·pac·ing, out·pac·es To surpass or outdo (another), as in speed, growth, or performance. outpace Verb [-pacing, upgrades in the near term due to rising labor, insurance, and capital needs costs. The full report, 'Health Care Rating Actions for the 12 Months Ended Dec. 31, 2004,' dated Jan. 4, 2005, which includes a listing of ratings and Rating Outlooks for Fitch's health care portfolio, is available on the Fitch Ratings web site at www.fitchratings.com. |
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