Safety-net health plans: A status report

This paper reports on a national survey of Medicaid managed care plans spon sored by safety-net provider organizations that have a mission of service t o low-income populations. We identified ninety-nine safety-net plans and ob tained data from eighty of them regarding their sponsorship, ape and size, relationships to sponsors, managed care practices, and measures of success. Most plans engage in active managed care and have achieved at least some o f their goals. However, 60 percent of plans lost money in 1997, and economi c trends have been unfavorable.