Affordable Care Act: Opportunities for Safety Nets
<p>The Affordable Care Act has the potential to help safety-net providers deliver more accessible, higher-quality care to vulnerable populations, according to The Commonwealth Fund's Pamela Riley, M.D., M.P.H., Julia Berenson, M.Sc., and Cara Dermody. In a new <a href="/blog/2012/how-affordable-care-act-supports-high-performance-safety-net">blog post </a>that draws on a Commonwealth Fund-supported issue brief from the National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP), they highlight provisions of the law that will help safety-net providers "promote coordination and integration of care, capitalize on investments in the capacity of the safety net, and strive to fully understand and adapt to upcoming changes to safety-net financing and payment." </p><p>In a related <a href="/blog/2012/are-safety-net-acos-good-idea-views-key-stakeholders">blog post</a>, Mary Takach, M.P.H., Katharine Witgert, M.P.H., and Catherine Hess, M.S.W., of NASHP explore how these providers will be affected by participation in accountable care organizations. </p>
<p>Also available on commonwealthfund.org is a <a href="~/link.aspx?_id=B40B041419414FF884C419B37F266AD5&_z=z">podcast exploring</a> what health reform means for safety-net providers. The podcast features Pamela Riley, Bruce Siegel, M.D., M.P.H., president and CEO of the National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems, and Leighton Ku, Ph.D., M.P.H., a professor in the School of Public Health and Health Services at George Washington University. </p>