Conference Agenda
Thursday, October 02, 2008
8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
Registration & Continental Breakfast in Exhibit Hall
Sponsored by:
9:00 AM
Conference Co-Chair's Welcoming Remarks
Iain Briggs
Managing Director
FTI Healthcare
9:00 AM - 9:45 AM
Washington Outlook
- What impact will the outcome of the election have on the municipal finance market?
- Healthcare reform
- How to control the cost of Medicare and Medicaid
- How are hospitals responding to looming budget concerns?
- How big of an issue are RAC audits, and what is the impact to credits?
Deb Mizeur
Obama Campaign Representative
Grace-Marie Turner
Representative of Sen. John McCain's Campaign
9:45 AM - 10:45 AM
Post-Issuance Tax Compliance
Recent IRS initiatives have highlighted a significant increase in IRS interest in information gathering and post-issuance compliance with tax-exempt bond rules by non-profit hospitals. Questionnaires sent to hospital issuers and borrowers have requested, among other items, information regarding procedures that hospitals have in place to insure this compliance. In addition, recent revisions to Form 990, in particular Schedule K (which will come into full effect in 2009), add a substantial amount of information that must be reported on tax returns regarding tax-exempt bond issues. This panel will focus on past and future IRS initiatives and questionnaires, information retention and reporting, Form 990 Schedule K requirements, and other regulatory issues. Panelists will discuss both the substantive tax law requirements and practical application of those requirements.
Moderator:
Linda D'Onofrio
Partner
Blank Rome LLP
Panelists:
Frederic L. Ballard, Jr.
Partner
Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP
Drew Maser
Director of Banking & Treasury Support
Temple University Health System
Thomas R. Meier
Senior Vice President, Corporate Treasurer
Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc.
10:45 AM - 11:15 AM
Morning Refreshment & Networking Break in Exhibit Hall
Sponsored by:
11:15 AM - 12:45 PM
The State of Credit Enhancement
Just as hospital credit quality improved to the point where bond insurers and other credit enhancers were warming up to the sector, the subprime fallout rocked the industry and depleted its triple-A ranks - leaving hospitals back in a scramble for high-rated credit enhancement. This has caused investors, bond insurance companies, and other creditors to tighten their covenant and security packages. This session will cover:
- The status of the traditional insurers, and updates on new entrants
- A review of market conditions for bank LOCs and other new alternatives to bond insurance
- A discussion of whether enhancers/investors are in a position to demand tighter security and covenant packages from hospitals
- The affect of the rating agency movement to a global rating scale on the demand on bond insurance, and future of bond insurers
- What a hospital needs to commit to in order to raise capital
Moderator:
Ron Blaustein
Corporate Controller
Children's Memorial Hospital
Panelists:
Robin Fisher
Vice President, Analyst
Franklin Templeton Investments
Steven Hunt
Senior Account Executive
U.S. Dept. of HUD
Mark McIntire
Vice President
Kaufman Hall & Associates, Inc.
Mark Pascaris
Assistant Vice President
Moody's Investors Service
John Wells
Director
Assured Guaranty
12:45 PM - 2:00 PM
Luncheon with Speaker
Managing Cash & Short-Term Assets in Volatile Markets
Recent market volatility has contributed to negative surprises for many nonprofit hospitals' cash and short-term investment programs. PIMCO's Paul Reisz will discuss the events that have caused these surprises, and outline a framework for how hospitals should approach the management of these assets.
Sponsored by:
Paul W. Reisz, CFA
Senior Vice President & Product Manager
PIMCO
2:00 PM - 3:15 PM
What Are the New Products Going to Be in the Tax-Exempt Market?
2008 has been a tough year for this market. Auctions are gone. Many of the insurers are out of business or tainted (though some new insurance capacity may be coming on). LOCs and liquidity facilities have increased drastically in price. This panel will address what a healthcare borrower should do if they want to issues in floating rate form? How well are swaps working in the current market? Does synthetic fixed vs. conventional fixed makes sense in this market?
- What is going to be the long-term fallout from the auction rate market?
- Auction rate vs. synthetic fixed rate deals?
- What are the new bond structure options for issuers??
- What are the debt, security and distribution structures??
Moderator:
Sylvia Yamamura
Executive Director
JP Morgan Chase & Co.
Panelists:
C. Richard Bayman
Senior Vice President
Shattuck Hammond Partners
Leigh Nader
Vice President
Assured Guaranty
Robert H. Olson
Partner
Squire, Sanders & Dempsey, L.L.P.
3:15 PM - 3:45 PM
Afternoon Refreshment & Networking Break in Exhibit Hall
Sponsored by:
3:45 PM - 4:45 PM
Managing Swap Risks
This year has brought into broad relief two risks which are present in almost all swaps: counterparty risk (the risk that the swap provider will get into credit problems), and basis risk (the risk that the floating rate a hospital pays on its bonds will not be offset by the floating rate received on its swaps, such as the unexpected spike in rates on auction bonds and the weak trading on VRDBs insured by "tainted" bond insurers). This panel will discuss approaches that have been used to repair problems, and what should be learned about how to proceed on future swap-based deals.
Moderator:
Andrew Garvey
Managing Director
Cain Brothers & Company, LLC
Panelists:
Hamilton Chang
Managing Director & Manager of Healthcare Finance Group
Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.
Talbot Heppenstall
Treasurer
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
4:45 PM - 5:30 PM
The Financing of Proton & Carbon Ion Facilities
In light of the growing potential for particle therapy, several new centers are in the advanced planning stage within the United States, most requiring an investment of $150 to $300 million. Many healthcare systems and academic medical centers are in the process of developing these centers to see whether they can be the first to control the multi-billion dollar cancer market within their service area. This session will cover:
- A description of proton and carbon beam radiation therapy
- Different operating and financial models for these facilities
- A discussion of the competitive market and for what type of health care providers these facilities make sense
Moderator:
Bonnie Siegal
Managing Director & Manager of Healthcare Finance Group
Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.
Panelists:
Daryl Anderson
Chief Financial Officer
Optivus Proton Therapy, Inc.
John M. Callahan
Partner
McDermott Will & Emery LLP
Kirk Nesbeitt
Vice President
Siemens Financial Services, Inc.
5:30 PM - 7:00 PM
Cocktail Reception in Exhibit Hall
Sponsored by:
7:15 PM
Speaker Dinner (by invitation)
Sponsored by:
Friday, October 03, 2008
8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
Continental Breakfast in Exhibit Hall
Sponsored by:
9:00 AM - 9:15 AM
Conference Co-Chair's Remarks
Bonnie Siegal
Managing Director & Manager of Healthcare Finance Group
Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.
9:15 AM - 10:00 AM
Nonprofit Hospitals vs. For-Profits: Ratings & Metrics
- The size of the two universes
- Why is there such a big discrepancy?
- The analytical approaches
- Global ratings
Moderator:
Joseph Rosenblum
Senior Vice President
AllianceBernstein
Panelists:
Alan Levine
Secretary
Louisiana Department of Health & Hospitals
Steve Levy
Vice President
Prudential Financial
Rishi Sadarangani
Vice President & Corporate Credit Research Analyst
AllianceBernstein
10:00 AM - 10:45 AM
Quality Improvement Measures
Does this drive patient choice? What is the economic impact, or impact to credit quality, if any?
- Magnet status
- U.S. News & World Report hospital rankings
- Pres Ganey rankings
- The impact of CMS HCHAPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers & Systems) and quality information
Panelists:
Stephen Infranco
Director
Standard & Poor's
Curt Whelan
Managing Director
Wellspring Partners
10:45 AM - 11:30 AM
Physician Alignment Strategies
This panel will examine the financial health of hospital systems, including:
- Integrated clinical model vs. independent physician model
- Dealing with critical resource shortages: primary care physicians, qualified nurses, and other allied health professionals. How will current shortages change over the next 10 years, and what are hospitals doing to adjust?
- Reimbursement cuts
Moderator:
Neal Peyser
Managing Director
FTI Healthcare
Panelists:
Anthony Houston
Director
Fitch Ratings
William Knopf, MD
Chief Operating Officer
Piedmont Heart Institute
William H. Thompson
President & Managing Partner
Hall, Render, Killian, Heath & Lyman, P.C.