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America’s Oral Health Is Improving Thanks to Better Prevention, Expanded Access to Care
The Pew Charitable Trusts are wrapping up their long-term dental campaign, which worked to address policy changes that would increase access to dental care.
View Each State’s Efforts to Extend Medicaid Postpartum Coverage
The National Academy of State Health Policy has recently updated its tracking of states’ efforts to extend Medicaid postpartum coverage. Extending services for new mothers is a key step toward improving health outcomes and health equity for children and their family members. About 34 states and the District of Columbia have taken steps toward extending at least some coverage beyond current limits.
Oral Health Care: What Are Funders Supporting?
A recent edition of Health Affairs’ “GrantWatch” blog outlined key oral health policy issues and provided an update on recent foundation grants in oral health. Several GIH Funding Partners are featured.
Oral Health in America: Advances and Challenges
A new report from the National Institutes of Health provides a road map on how to improve the nation’s oral health. Released by NIH’s National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), the report emphasizes the importance of oral health, and challenges to the creation of more equitable access to oral health services. Potential roles for health philanthropy are highlighted including grantmaking and policy engagement regarding insurance access, community health education, and school-based dental services.
AHRQ Releases Annual Update on U.S. Healthcare Quality, Disparities
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has released its National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report, which details the state of healthcare quality and disparities in the United States. The report identifies improvements in HIV and colon cancer care, nursing home care, and medication prescribing to older adults. The report also indicates that more work needs to be done to address disparities in important areas. Among the findings, dental and oral health care services have not substantially improved, particularly for people with low income or who live in rural areas.
Publications and Reports
Rural Health Transformation Program: Opportunities for Philanthropy
This GIH issue brief is a high-level analysis of major themes as identified from initiatives and strategies in state applications, reflecting the primary foci of each state’s Rural Health Transformation (RHT) program. Based on this analysis, we offer several recommendations for grantmaker investment and action in support of RHT initiatives and, ultimately, improving the health and well-being of rural communities.
Understanding Vaccine Access in a Shifting Landscape
This Grantmakers In Health (GIH) Issue Focus provides an overview of the current vaccine policy landscape and describes how health funders can respond to threats to vaccine access.
GIH Bulletin: January/February 2026
One year ago, as we were just one month into the new administration, I wrote that “At a moment when so much has been described as ‘unprecedented,’ and so much of what we value is being attacked, we need to ask ourselves as individuals, organizations, and a field, what do we stand for? What values do we hold, and what will we do and say to defend them?” Today, the answers to these questions are needed more urgently than ever.