Bond insurers are facing massive losses due to the subprime mortgage market. The market for auction-rate bonds has effectively disappeared in few weeks. In the absence of willing purchasers, hospitals and health system borrowers have suddenly found themselves paying interest rates of as much as 15% (or more, in some cases), with unanticipated costs in the millions of dollars. This teleconference will provide participants with an understanding of how the auction-rate securities market works, the circumstances that have led up to the current credit crisis, and the options that hospitals and health systems are grappling with as they try to extricate themselves from these arrangements. Presenters also will provide their thoughts as to what lies ahead, i.e., the short-term and long-term implications of these events with respect to hospitals and health systems financing their capital and operating needs.