ROCHESTER, N.Y. - Across the country, a patchwork of safety-net hospitals, clinics and physician offices serves as the default system of health care for millions of low-income and uninsured Americans. However, these providers are not available everywhere and many face unique challenges just to survive.

Recent news further indicates that the health care safety net---particularly the hospital safety net---is in jeopardy, with quality of care declining, financial pressures mounting and closures or mergers increasing. Evidence points to considerable gaps in income between so-called "have" and "have-not" hospitals.

The complex issues surrounding the health care safety net are examined in INQUIRY's spring issue in the article, "Protecting the Hospital Safety Net," the latest in its ongoing "Dialogue" series, co-sponsored by the Alliance for Advancing Nonprofit Health Care. The current feature brings together renowned experts to discuss the differences between "safety-net" and "have-not" hospitals, the reasons behind the safety net's financial distress, suggestions for bolstering such hospitals, and the role the nonprofit health care sector should play in helping to protect the hospital safety net.

The entire feature is open access article available at: http://www.inquiryjournalonline.org/inqronline/?request=get-document&issn=0046-9580&volume=046&issue=01&page=0007

INQUIRY is a peer-reviewed scholarly publication. Now in its 46th year, it is published quarterly by Excellus Health Plan, Inc. Press releases and article abstracts are available at www.inquiryjournal.org under "Current Issue Table of Contents."