Strengthening the Health Care Safety Net. A Workshop for Senior State and LocalHealth Care Policymakers. Held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on October 25-27, 2000

摘要

State and local policy makers participated in a 2 1/2 day forum to examine theproblems confronting the safety net (the service providers and financing mechanisms that provide or support care to persons who are unable to afford needed health care services). The forum enabled participants discuss policy options for assuring access to care, and to do the following: describe the status of the health care safety net in the United States and the major pressures affecting the viability of core providers; understand how certain Medicaid managed care rules and practices can adversely affect safety net providers; identify the main sources of funding for safety net services and how direct and indirect subsidies have been eroding; describe key lessons derived from efforts to create safety net systems that more closely coordinate and integrate services provided by hospitals, community health centers, and other safety net providers; identify new Federal resources for strengthening the safety net; understand the difficulties involved with monitoring the status of safety net providers and populations (e.g., limited data availability) and efforts to overcome these barriers; and network with attendees from the legislative and executive branches of government, leading health services researchers, and providers of safety net services.