Safety net hospitals say reform essential

WASHINGTON, March 18 (UPI) -- America's safety net hospitals and health systems are urging the U.S. Congress to approve healthcare reform as soon as possible.

Larry S. Gage is president of the National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems, which includes 140 of America's safety net hospitals and health systems, which provide medical care for the uninsured and underinsured, regardless of ability to pay. Safety net hospitals and other providers such as community health centers have long served as our "national health plan" by default, Gage says.

"Safety net hospitals have long served as our 'national health plan' by default," Gage says in a statement.

"While Congress was failing time after time to act, NAPH members were responding to the ongoing increase in the numbers of uninsured and underinsured. But the resources of these essential providers have been sorely challenged by the current economic crisis."

Many elements of this legislation have enjoyed Republican as well as Democratic sponsorship in years past, but with or without bipartisan support, the Congress must now move ahead because the need is too great, Gage says.

"Our entire health system has become more dysfunctional and unsustainable," Gage says. "Runaway insurance premiums and costs, growing disparities in the health status of vulnerable patient populations and inadequate access to primary care for millions -- all of these factors are leading toward a systemic breakdown in many parts of the country."