Health Policy Update: May 15, 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.

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Implementing Health Care Reform: Funders and Advocates Respond to the Challenge

With provisions in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act set to take effect over the next four years, grantmakers and advocacy groups have been developing activities to address the early stages of health care reform implementation. This report is based on over 40 interviews with national and state grantmakers and advocacy organizations about their initial work around implementation. 

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Improving Diversity in the Health Professions

Why do many disadvantaged groups in the United States, including people of color and low-income populations, still lack reliable access to highquality, affordable health care? Why are these groups also among the most affected by persistent and ever-widening disparities in health and health care?

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Comparative Effectiveness Research: Informing Decisions and Improving Quality

Comparative effectiveness research (CER) is the study of methods to “prevent, diagnose, treat, and monitor a clinical condition or to improve the delivery of care” (IOM 2009). Its purpose is to assist consumers, clinicians, purchasers, and policymakers in making informed decisions that will improve health care at both the individual and population levels (IOM 2009).

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2010 Terrance Keenan Award Acceptance Speech

Read about The Commonwealth Fund’s Dr. Mary Jane Koren’s 30 years of work to improve the quality of institutional long-term care, and be inspired by her willingness to take chances on innovation, revisit old ideas, and find treasure among the wreckage.

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Back to the Beginning: Obesity Prevention in Early Childhood

Recent efforts in the field of child obesity prevention have placed emphasis on the school-age population, and with good reason. Schools present a unique opportunity to reach large groups of children on a regular basis with healthy foods and physical activity. However, about 10 percent of children come to kindergarten already obese, indicating that more attention needs to focus on the period of life before school.

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Improving Quality: Long-Term Vision and Incremental Change

Quality is one of the most pressing issues facing the health care system today, and foundations are using a variety of approaches to support quality improvement efforts at the local, state, and national levels, turning a cacophony of consumer voices into coherent, actionable work.

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Rethinking Substance Use Disorders

Almost 1 in 10 individuals over age 12 has a problem with alcohol or drugs, making substance use disorders one of the most damaging and expensive health problems facing the United States today. Yet many of the specific issues surrounding substance use remain under the radar because of their controversial nature and the highly marginalized and vulnerable populations they often affect.

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