Health Policy Update: April 17, 2025
In an effort to help our Funding Partners better understand the changing health policy landscape in the new administration and Congress, Grantmakers In Health (GIH) is expanding the GIH Health Policy Update newsletter to three issues per month. Working in collaboration with Leavitt Partners, a leading health care policy consultancy, we are adding new installments of the newsletter on the first and third Wednesdays of the month, while we will continue to partner with Trust for America’s Health on the installment released on the second Wednesday of the month.
Teen Pregnancy: A Winnable Battle within Reach
Through both government and philanthropic funding, notable strides have been made in tackling teen pregnancy and birth rates across communities in the United States.
The Residual Uninsured: Taking Stock, Taking Care
By the time the Affordable Care Act is fully implemented in 2019, government analysts estimate that about 89 percent of the nonelderly U.S. population will be covered by health insurance. An estimated 11 percent of the nonelderly population, more than 30 million people nationwide, will remain uninsured.
Living Sicker and Dying Younger: United States Lags in Global Health Gains
Shorter lives and poorer health: this was the striking conclusion of leading public health experts convened by the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine when examining the research evidence on how health and life expectancy in the United States compares to that of other high-income democracies around the world.
Health Care for the Neediest: The Critical Transformation
The United States now stands on the cusp of important expansion in access to affordable health insurance coverage that was promised in the enactment of federal health reform legislation in 2010. As actors and stakeholders throughout the health system prepare for a surge in the insured population, leaders are looking ahead to the looming challenges that will move to center stage as the crisis of the uninsured recedes: How can we reduce the heavy burden of health care cost growth on our nation’s families, employers, state budgets, and federal health care programs?
Gun Control: A Health Policy Issue?
Although the health-related consequences of gun violence are undeniable, the need for stronger gun control policies to address these health outcomes is hotly contested. Is the field of health philanthropy particularly “gun shy” about engaging in the contentious policy debate surrounding gun control? A number of health funders have supported grants and initiatives related to violence prevention, but relatively few have explicitly recognized gun control as a health policy objective.
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