Grantmakers In Health’s five-year strategic plan elevates leadership and influence as one of four strategic pillars for our work. GIH seeks to take a more active role in defining the key issues that will advance better health for all. We are also supporting health philanthropy with the thought leadership and programming to create lasting impact by influencing advocacy, policy, and funding in targeted areas. 

This policy agenda identifies our public policy priorities for the coming year. Informed by health funders, these priorities will guide our programming, influence decisions related to issuing public statements on timely policy issues, and focus our emerging advocacy efforts. We hope these priorities will also inspire the field of health philanthropy and encourage greater collaboration and commitment to common policy goals among funders. We look forward to working with funders and others to advance this agenda. 

GIH Health Policy Update Newsletter

An Exclusive Resource for GIH Funding Partners

Health Policy Update: April 17, 2025

April 18, 2025
Posted in ,

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.

2025 Federal Health Policy Timeline

This timeline previews expected and potential federal regulatory and legislative health policy events in 2025. Funding Partners interested in state legislative sessions should visit NCSL’s State Legislative Session Calendar.

A curated, exclusive resource for GIH Partners

GIH Advocacy for the Reauthorization of the Older Americans Act (OAA)

The OAA provides critical services that address the social drivers of health for older adults. If the OAA is not reauthorized, it is set to expire on September 30, 2024. Grantmakers In Health (GIH) and Grantmakers In Aging (GIA) announced a partnership last year to engage funders in advancing the reauthorization of this critical piece of legislation.

Support GIH and GIA's OAA Partnership

GIH and GIA are raising funds to support our advocacy work on the OAA, and we still need additional investments to reach our goal. Please reach out to Cecilia Kramer at ckramer@gih.org for more information. We are appreciative of the funders who have already supported this partnership. 

OAA News and Updates

Progress Report: Older Americans Act Reauthorization Campaign

January 31, 2025
Posted in

In October 2023, Grantmakers In Aging (GIA) and Grantmakers In Health (GIH) launched an 18-month initiative to engage funders in the reauthorization of the Older Americans Act (OAA). This report highlights key activities and takeaways and previews future programming.

Download the Report →

Latest Resources

Awarding Excellence in Advocacy and Philanthropy

On March 14, GIH announced that Chet Hewitt, President and CEO of the Sierra Health Foundation, is the 2017 recipient of the Terrance Keenan Leadership Award in Health Philanthropy, and that Ron Pollack, the Founding Executive Director of Families USA, is the 2017 recipient of the Andy Hyman Award for Advocacy.

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Igniting a Women’s Health Activist Movement—WHAM!

We at the Jewish Healthcare Foundation (JHF) are not content to let this activist roar go silent. That is why we recently launched the Women’s Health Activist Movement Global (WHAM Global), a network to empower and cultivate female leaders who advance health care systems that are transparent, respectful, accountable, and equitable.

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Helping Funders Adapt to a Changing Policy Landscape

I recently joined local policy experts and colleagues from Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees and Grantmakers for Education in a Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers forum on the 2016 presidential election’s implications for philanthropy.

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All Hands on Mission

Allegany Franciscan Ministries is a mission-driven grantmaker whose staff, board, and community volunteers strive to understand and connect with the realities faced by the marginalized communities served by the organization.

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Policy Matters: How the Affordable Care Act Has Changed Our Grantmaking

Health reform is not for the faint of heart. When we began drafting this article, it took shape as a reflective piece on the ways in which the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) had affected our grantmaking.

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Building a Field for Health Equity Advocacy: Reflections from a Grantee-Driven Approach

The Colorado Trust believes that all Coloradans should have fair and equal opportunities to lead healthy, productive lives regardless of race, ethnicity, income, or where we live.

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