Three hospitals analyzed are resourceful and resilient in their ability to provide services to low-income people even through rough times. Nonetheless, the authors conclude that operating deficits may pose problems in the future. This paper presents a high level of detail on the sources of financing for these three safety net hospitals. The author challenges the practice of using caseload decline as a barometer of welfare reform success. He uses the National Survey of America's Families to take a closer look at families at risk of poverty in Wisconsin.
Poverty persists, but near-elimination of child poverty seems within reach.
The health issue goes beyond insurance to include access to quality services. This paper examines state revenues, expenditures, and economic cycles over a recent 18-year period. The authors ask what will happen to state welfare spending when the next recession occurs. The history of state revenue and expenditure during recessionary periods suggests that most states will raise taxes in order to maintain spending. Whether states will increase taxes to maintain welfare spending in particular is unclear.