Diagnosing Health Care Spending Pressures for European Local Governments Oct 01

Standard & Poors, October 2001

Abstract
The increasing trend of many European governments to delegate health care responsibilities to the local level has affected the complexity, financial position, and credit quality of local governments. Large and growing health care deficits in many Italian regions and Swedish counties have caused considerable financial pressure and some negative rating actions. In Spain however, a supportive financial system, strong economic growth, and a broad range of expenditure responsibilities have led to recent positive rating changes in some regions, despite their large health care responsibilities. In Central and Eastern Europe, both the Czech Republic and Croatia are considering transferring some form of health care responsibilities to local governments, which is likely to have important implications for their credit quality once this...

Companies mentioned in this report are:
- Stockholm (City of)
- Sweden (Kingdom of)
- Spain (Kingdom of)
- Italy (Republic of) (Unsolicited Ratings)
- Swiss Confederation (Unsolicited Ratings)
- Catalonia (Autonomous Community of)
- Czech Republic
- Croatia (Republic of)
- Lazio (Region of)
- Stockholm County Council

Standard and Poors RatingsXpress Credit Research provides in-depth coverage of international corporates, financial institutions, insurance companies, utilities, sovereigns and structured finance programs. RatingsXpress Credit Research lets users determine the credit rating of holdings and identify key factors underlying an issuer's creditworthiness, distinguishes the different risk exposures for new and existing deals, and provides an understanding of how their analysts interpret key regulatory, political and environmental events and their economic impact.

Research Type: Commentary
Criteria articles describe the thought process and methodology Standard & Poor's analysts use in determining ratings. These commentary pieces discuss both the quantitative (economic and financial) and qualitative (business analysis and caliber of management) aspects of the analysis, as well as legal issues.

- Stockholm (City of)
- Sweden (Kingdom of)
- Spain (Kingdom of)
- Italy (Republic of) (Unsolicited Ratings)
- Swiss Confederation (Unsolicited Ratings)
- Catalonia (Autonomous Community of)
- Czech Republic
- Croatia (Republic of)
- Lazio (Region of)
- Stockholm County Council

Customers who bought this item also bought

• The European University Libraries Directory 2013
• International Military and Civilian Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Survey
• European Military Land Vehicles Market Assessment
• The European Foundations Directory 2013
• The EU Defence Market: Industry and National Procurement
• International Country Risk Guide Annual
• Aerospace & Defense in Spain
• Defense Spending in Spain
• The European Defence Support Services Market Report 2009
• OECD Central Government Debt Statistics 2012