Safety Net Association of PA

Is the health care safety net different in other states?

Yes - very different. In other states, the health care safety net consists primarily of public hospitals. Pennsylvania, however, does not have any public hospitals, so safety-net responsibilities have fallen to the private sector. In fact, Pennsylvania is the largest state in the nation with no public hospitals. In those other states, public hospitals receive significant local, county, and state subsidies to support their safety-net activities; Pennsylvania's private safety-net hospitals do not – and they suffer financially as a result. Despite this, the commonwealth's safety-net hospitals view themselves as working in partnership with the state in service to low-income Pennsylvanians.

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