Spotlight: Celebrating Civic Health Month!
Eileen Salinsky, Program Advisor, Grantmakers In Health August is civic health month and an opportune time to reflect on organizational and individual commitments to civic engagement. A growing body of research has established a relationship between civic engagement and health outcomes, such as improved access to health care services, lower rates of chronic diseases, longer…
Fair Maps For Better Health Outcomes
Non-Partisan Redistricting Advances Community Health Priorities. Without Fair Representation, Community Priorities Can’t Compete. It’s no coincidence that some of our most gerrymandered states have some of the worst health outcomes. Philanthropy can’t solve health inequities alone. But supporting community-led work to secure fair districts can help change the system – and strengthen our democracy – by allowing communities to choose responsive lawmakers who will fight for better health policy.
To Build a Healthier Nation, We Must Have a Fair Count
Every decade, the Census Bureau fulfills a constitutionally-mandated count of every person living in the
United States. Data derived from the Decennial Census and the ongoing American Community Survey form the statistical backbone for public health, hospitals, insurance, and dozens of federal and other government programs. This data is also an important tool for funder decision-making. For funders focused on health equity, quality data is needed to provide a better understanding of health disparities and the advancement of health equity goals.
The People Say: A New Older Adult and Caregiver Policy and Research Tool
An online research hub features first-hand insights from older adults and caregivers on the issues most important to them, as well as feedback from experts on policies affecting older adults. The project particularly focuses on the experiences of communities often under-consulted in policymaking, including older adults of color, those who are low income, and/or those who live in rural areas where healthcare isn’t easily accessible.
KFF Introduces Health Policy 101—A Primer on U.S. Health Policy
KFF launched a new resource —the Health Policy 101 — an online resource or mini “textbook” about health policy for faculty and students. Drew Altman felt the need for a resource like this ages ago, when he was at MIT writing a book on health care regulation and needed a reference with real detail on public programs and health costs. It took a while to produce it but now it’s ready!
CMS Announces an $500 Million Funding Opportunity to Increase ACA Outreach and Enrollment Efforts
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the availability of $500 million in grants over the next five years to increase the number of organizations who help people enroll in health coverage through the Federally-Facilitated Marketplace (FFM) on HealthCare.gov. This is the largest funding allocation CMS has made available for Navigator grants to date.
Ensuring Access to Care: Why Sustaining California’s Health Workforce Investments Matters
California’s shortage of health workers threatens people’s ability to access the care they need to live healthy lives. In response, state policymakers have taken significant steps over the past five years to expand and diversify the health workforce by funding various programs to recruit, educate, train, and retain health workers. However, as the state deals with substantial budget challenges, it is critical that these investments be sustained.
Paid Leave and Job Protection for Parents, People Who Are Sick and People Who Have Sick Family Members
Lack of paid family caregiving and medical leave policy at the national level makes the United States a global outlier. In the absence of a national guarantee, more than a dozen states have passed and implemented necessary paid family and medical leave. WORLD Policy Analysis Center has developed a database and policy briefs that describe paid leave laws and policies.
A Compendium of State Policies to Curb Hospital Prices and Reduce Medical Debt
Health care in the United States is the most expensive in the world by far and the reason is simple – health care providers keep increasing the prices of services. Hospitals, which represent the largest component of health care spending, have an outsized influence on medical debt in their communities through their policies and behavior.
Case Study Examines Early Learnings in Using Medicaid Payments for Food is Medicine
A new resource commissioned by the Fair Food Network examines the early learnings from the Healthy Opportunities Pilots effort in North Carolina to use federal 1115 Medicaid Demonstration Waiver funding to scale and sustain community-based implementation of a combination of produce prescription programs, medically tailored meal programs, and nutrition education.