Book excerpt: Forum Session Announcement - Examining the Condition of the Health Care Safety Net: Time to Re-Cast? F O R U M S E S S I O N Examining the Condition of the Health Care Safety Net: Time to Re-Cast?MAY 18, 2012 OVERVIEW This Forum session explored the current status of the health care safety net. [...] The IOM report defines safety net providers as "those providers that organize and deliver a significant level of health care and other related services to uninsured, Medicaid, and other vulnerable patients."1 These in- clude federally qualified health centers (FQHCs), free clinics, public hospital systems, and local health departments. [...] Like all health care providers, safety net organizations anxiously await the outcome of the Supreme Court's decision on the health re- form law. [...] In addition to coverage changes that impact safety net providers, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) features a number of efforts to improve health care delivery by strengthening the coordination and integration of care. [...] Safety net providers' mission to serve the community and coordinate care also aligns well with the goals for ACOs, but some have expressed concerns about the readi- ness of safety net systems to join such organizations or create their own.5 Although CMS's ACOs target Medicare patients and safety net providers do not typically serve large numbers of them, some states are adapting the concept of the.