STAT+: Why hospitals are cutting ties with Moody’s rating agency
Over the past roughly 18 months, Moody’s ratings have been withdrawn on nearly $5 billion worth of outstanding hospital debt, compared with less than $1 billion for Fitch.
Not-for-profit hospitals have been cutting ties with Moody’s Investors Service in recent years, citing the high cost and time commitment required to maintain their relationships with the rating agency.
With labor and supply costs inflated and margins thin following the Covid-19 pandemic, hospitals are eager to trim any expenses they can. Increasingly, that means cutting a bond rating. It’s common for health systems to have their bonds rated by just two or even one of the three major credit rating agencies —Moody’s, S&P Global Ratings, and Fitch Ratings.
But when deciding which one to ditch, data show they’ve more commonly targeted Moody’s in recent years. At least 10 health systems have ended their agreements with Moody’s since July 2020, including big names like Orlando Health, SSM Health, Scripps Health, and OSF Healthcare.
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