. Financing Safety Net Hospitals

. Wisconsin: In Midst of Reform

. State Welfare Spending Implications for the Next Recession

The Role of Local Governments in Financing Safety Net Hospitals: Houston, Oakland and Miami; Occasional Paper 25; June, 1999; Jack A. Meyer, Mark W. Legnini, Emily K. Fatula. This report concludes that safety net hospitals, while not in crisis, are also not fully viable and secure. 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.

In Midst of Reform: Wisconsin in 1997; Discussion Paper 99-03; June, 1999; Michael Wiseman. 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. Among the conclusions: Wisconsin Works (W2) has produced a dramatic drop in cash assistance. Poverty persists, but near-elimination of child poverty seems within reach. The health issue goes beyond insurance to include access to quality services. Milwaukee remains the challenge; the city does worse than the state on virtually all measures.

State Fiscal Systems and Business Cycles; Discussion Paper 99-04; June, 1999; Richard F. Dye, Therese J. McGuire. 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.

To order these publications, contact Bonnie Nowak by email: bnowak@ui.urban.org or call 202/261-5850.

Harold Leibovitz Director of Communications Assessing the New Federalism The Urban Institute 2100 M Street, NW Washington, DC 20037 202/261-5815 202/293-1918 - fax