Medicaid and Community Violence: Pathways to Sustainable Care

American cities are witnessing historic declines in gun violence. In recent years, cities like Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Chicago have all seen precipitous drops in homicides, with some reaching multi-decade record lows (Washington Post 2025). While there are many causes of this decline, experts in the field point to community violence intervention as driving the trend.

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Reimagining Rural Health and Well-being

To inform positive change, Grantmakers in Health (GIH) and the National Rural Health Association (NRHA) are partnering to reimagine a unified vision for health and well-being in rural America. The Georgia Health Policy Center (GHPC) was engaged to conduct a landscape analysis and facilitate listening sessions with rural health stakeholders at the local, state, and national levels.

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Transitions

Philanthropy @ Work – Transitions – January 2026

The latest on transitions from the field.

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GIH Health Policy Update Newsletter

An Exclusive Resource for Funding Partners

The Health Policy Update is a newsletter produced in collaboration with Leavitt Partnersi and Trust for America’s Health. Drawing on GIH’s policy priorities outlined in our policy agenda and our strategic objective of increasing our policy and advocacy presence, the Health Policy Update provides GIH Funding Partners with a range of federal health policy news.

Better Health Through Better Philanthropy - Grantmakers in Health

Giving Voice: The Power of Grassroots Advocacy in Shaping Public Policy

Within advocacy work, there exists a wide spectrum of strategies that can be employed to change or shape public policy. Yet, too often, nonprofit health organizations tend to limit themselves to a narrow range of strategies that typically includes education, policy/data analysis, and limited legislative advocacy. While these strategies are important to public policy work, they may not be enough to influence policymakers in today’s increasingly special interest and ideological-driven political system.

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Ingredients for a Healthy School Lunch Movement

From a comfortable distance, the solution to the childhood obesity problem sounds deceptively easy: children need to move more and eat healthier foods. Yet, as you examine the many causes of childhood obesity, the simple solution is not quite as simple as it sounds. Encouraging children to adopt healthy habits is challenging because unhealthy eating and sedentary lifestyles are engrained in our culture.

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Lights, Camera, Take Action: Spotlighting Public Health for the Next Generation

What do zombies, “Salad Man,” and Academy Award-nominated director Gus Van Sant have in common? They have all played a role in Northwest Health Foundation’s efforts to bring the importance of a fully functioning public health system into the hearts and minds of the people – especially the youth – of Oregon.

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The Role of Philanthropy in Implementing Federal Health Reform

In March 2010 President Obama signed both the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act into law. These two laws will dramatically affect the health insurance system and the delivery of care in America.

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Paving the Way for Change: Implementing CLASS

The historic passage of the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was in many ways a homerun for health advocates who have been working toward meaningful reform for decades. The new law lays the groundwork for sweeping changes in the American health care system, expanding access, coverage, and personal responsibility for care suited to individual needs.

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Healthy and Safe Housing: A Foundation for Healthy Futures

The link between housing and health is well known and well established. Efforts to improve public health through housing improvements go back to the origins of the public health movement.

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