Explore Access and Quality Topics
Latest Resources
Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust: October 2025
Three new fact sheets inform funders about how recent federal budget cuts will impact health care access, food assistance, and the health of immigrant families. The fact sheets detail what is being cut, when the cuts will take effect, and what to do next.
Responding to a Rural Hospital Closure: The Importance of a Phased, Multi-Pronged Approach
It has been over a year since the August 31, 2024, closure of a beloved community hospital in Ayer, Massachusetts following the bankruptcy of the private equity-backed Steward Health Care system. The impacts of the Nashoba Valley Medical Center closure continue to reverberate across this rural working-class region, adding to a growing sense of abandonment and frustration that has accumulated over waves of health care service cuts.
Designing Inclusive and Equity-Centered Health System Improvement Projects—Lessons from Three Initiatives
Disparities in access to health care persist for individuals with low incomes and Black, Hispanic/Latinx and Native American/Native Alaskan individuals and are particularly acute in behavioral health. Behavioral health care utilization rates among Black, Hispanic, and Asian adults are less than half those of White adults. These disparities exist because of barriers in access such as limited provider networks, poor language access, a lack of culturally-aligned services, and technological barriers to telehealth. Working with health providers to create inclusive and accessible services is essential to building more equitable access to behavioral health care, and to healthier and happier families and communities.
To Improve Youth Mental Health, Funders Must Center Youth Voices
As youth mental health challenges continue to grow nationwide, a new initiative in Greater Cincinnati believes transformational change begins when youth are empowered to lead.
Georgia Health Initiative: July 2025
The Georgia Health Initiative released a new report titled “The Public Health Emergency Medicaid Unwinding: Georgia’s Redeterminations Experience,” which explores promising practices and lessons learned during the unwinding of Georgia’s Medicaid coverage. It also highlights ways these findings can support ongoing efforts to strengthen health coverage access in Georgia.
REACH Healthcare Foundation and United Methodist Health Ministry Fund: May 2025
The United Methodist Health Ministry Fund and REACH Healthcare Foundation recently partnered with experts from Manatt Health to shed light on the potential impacts of $880 billion in cuts to the Medicaid program on Kansas.
Publications and Reports
Returning the Mouth to the Body: Integrating Oral Health & Primary Care
GIH convened the Issue Dialogue Returning the Mouth to the Body: Integrating Oral Health Care and Primary Care to discuss the benefits, challenges, and approaches to integrating oral health and primary care. This Issue Brief synthesizes key points from the day’s discussion with a background paper previously prepared for meeting participants.
The Supreme Court Decision on the Affordable Care Act: Forging Ahead
On June 28, 2012, the Supreme Court of the United States delivered its decision on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In a five-to-four ruling, the court largely upheld the ACA, maintaining important provisions already in place and paving the way for a fundamental transformation of the health care system. Following the decision, GIH held several webinars analyzing the implications of the ruling.
Medical Homes 101
First championed by the American Academy of Pediatrics more than 40 years ago, the medical home is a team-based health care delivery model led by a physician that provides comprehensive, continuous, and coordinated primary and preventive medical care to patients.