Value Advocacy Project

Consumer health advocates have made great strides to improve access to health coverage. However, there is still much work to be done: both out-of-pocket costs and costs on premiums have the potential to limit access to care; and even though the United States spends more on health care per capita than any other country, our population’s health status and outcomes are worse than those of most other countries. Consumer health advocates have an opportunity to engage in efforts to build a better health system that produces good outcomes, reduces or eliminates persistent health disparities, and helps people live healthier lives.

Community Catalyst’s Value Advocacy Project supports state and regional non-lobbying advocacy efforts to pursue policy and health system changes that increase the value of health care by improving health outcomes and lowering health care costs, especially for populations that have disproportionately poor outcomes. Changes are already underway at the federal level to make the cost of health care more sustainable while improving quality, and much of the work and innovation will happen, and is already happening, at the state policy and local delivery system levels. It will be important for consumers and their advocates to create and sustain an organized and active voice in decisions related to the development, adoption and implementation of health system transformation to ensure reforms are responsive to the needs and concerns of consumers. 

Our Partners

California Health Access Foundation

Improving Health and Equity for California Consumers Through Transparency, Benefit Design, and Medicaid Reform

Health Access Foundation and the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network work to further advance the state’s success in implementing the Affordable Care Act and momentum towards delivery system reforms by:

• Advancing transparency on costs, quality, access, and equity through an All Payer Database and related tools;
• Developing consumer-friendly value-based benefit design that promotes health and lowers costs; and
• Reforming Medicaid through a renewed waiver focused on quality improvement, population health, equity, consumer engagement, and medical homes for enrollees and the uninsured.

TakeAction Minnesota Education Fund

Valuing Health: Building the Field for Consumer-Designed Health Systems

TakeAction Minnesota Education Fund works to

• Build the capacity of consumer advocates to meaningfully participate in multi-stakeholder tables defining Minnesota’s next generation of health system transformation and innovation; and
• Partner with immigrant advocacy groups and safety net hospitals to work on ACA implementation and create a new model of value-based care for a subset of immigrants with high health needs, which could be a model for the larger pursuit of value based care.

Community Service Society of New York

Consumer Voices for Health Care Value

Together with the Health Care for All New York (HCFANY) coalition, Community Service Society of New York works to propel consumer involvement in New York’s payment and delivery system reform (PDSR) initiative by:

• Advocating for robust and lasting consumer and advocate engagement in PDSR programs;
• Securing concrete health system transformation policy victories that protect and benefit consumers; and
• Ensuring New York’s PDSR efforts are transparent and held accountable to outcomes that promote health equity and improve population health.

UHCAN Ohio

Ohio Campaign for Better Care

UHCAN Ohio, the Children’s Defense Fund of Ohio and the Ohio Campaign for Better Care work to build a sustained consumer voice aimed at policy and system level changes in Ohio’s State Innovation Model Project (SIM) by:

• Building capacity for structured consumer engagement at patient, practice and policy levels including Patient/Family Advisory Councils in Patient Centered Medical Homes (PCMHs); and
• Ensuring PCMHs are being established, especially in Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs), with adequate capacity and cultural competency to serve all disproportionately at-risk Ohioans.

Pennsylvania Health Access Network

Value Advocacy Project Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Health Access Network works to reduce health care costs and improve health outcomes for a subset of the Medicaid populations (High Cost, High Needs population) by:

• Bringing a statewide approach for patient centered medical homes for Medicaid beneficiaries with chronic conditions to Pennsylvania; and
• Using state Medicaid dollars to establish permanent supportive housing services for Pennsylvania’s vulnerable populations.

Washington CAN!

Advancing Accountability in Washington State’s Accountable Communities of Health

Washington CAN! and Northwest Health Law Advocates work to ensure strong community involvement in Washington state’s newly-created Accountable Communities of Health (ACH) by:

• Developing resources and tools for meaningful consumer and community engagement in ACH; and
•  Conducting grassroots outreach, technical assistance, and organizing support to low-income consumers and allied organizations to increase consumer participation in ACH.