About

The Colorado Consumer Health Initiative was one of twelve state based advocacy groups selected by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Community Catalyst to participate in the Consumer Voices for Coverage grant initiative, which supports state health care coverage efforts by fostering strong and robust advocacy infrastructures.

Community Catalyst is a national health advocacy organization dedicated to quality affordable care for all. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) focuses on the pressing health and health care issues facing the nation; all RWJF philanthropy efforts are devoted exclusively to improving the health and health care of all Americans.

The Colorado Consumer Health Initiative is leading the statewide collaboration and is supported by a leadership team of organizations including: the Business Forum on Health, the Colorado Council of Churches, and the Colorado Progressive Coalition. The Colorado Voices for Coverage project seeks to organize health reform at the state level to remove barriers that block consumers from adequate health care. The project will increase the understanding, commitment, and capacity of a broad group of stakeholders to bring underrepresented perspectives into health care policy discussions, to connect diverse constituencies, and to build sustainable state-wide advocacy network required to implement meaningful health reform.

The goal of this collaborative project is to increase access to healthcare for all Coloradans. Our objective is to expand the capacity of consumer constituencies to achieve meaningful healthcare reform in Colorado. We define meaningful healthcare reform as expanding coverage to the underinsured and uninsured, while decreasing the high costs that are significant barriers to access.

By the end of the three year grant initiative the Colorado Voices for Coverage project the leadership team expects to achieve the following:

Building and sustaining viable, broad-based coalitions: We will establish an organized stakeholder group that convenes on a regular and continuing basis to identify, create, and capitalize on opportunities for healthcare reform in the state. The core function of this group will be to engage consumer-based constituencies in healthcare reform, ensure diverse perspectives are included, identify key healthcare policy issues, and develop the capacity to mobilize broad communities to affect change. Colorado Voices for Coverage intends to build statewide capacity to create meaningful expansions in coverage by the end of the grant period and beyond.

Fostering collaborative partnerships with grassroots organizations: To ensure healthcare access, consumer constituencies must understand the opportunities for healthcare reform in Colorado, and be able to advocate effectively for their individual and community needs.1 The leadership team will take different approaches to organizing and each work with a critical constituency.

Conducting legal and policy research and analysis: The lead partners have often collaborated with the Bell Policy Center, Colorado Health Institute, Colorado Center on Law and Policy, and the Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute, among others; Rather than duplicate efforts, we will involve these organizations in Colorado Voices for Coverage to ensure that we build capacity within and throughout the stakeholders to use research and policy analysis as the basis for decisions and action. Colorado Voices for Coverage will also identify additional research needed to support our goals.

Enhancing media and communication skills: Coordinated, aligned media and communication efforts create a persuasive public voice for healthcare reform. One goal of this grant is to strengthen the ability of the partners independently and collaboratively to develop effective healthcare messaging, frame issues for constituencies, and successfully influence decision makers throughout an economically, geographically, and demographically diverse state.

Developing and implementing effective health policy campaigns: By strengthening the relationships, capacity, and understanding of the partners and stakeholders, our goal is to find shared solutions on policy issues. Colorado Voices for Coverage will be positioned to identify and mobilize on healthcare policy developments in a timely and coordinated manner. In addition to responding to opportunities, Colorado Voices for Coverage will develop and implement proactive campaigns on critical issues.

Promoting sustainability: While momentum is building for meaningful healthcare reform in Colorado, implementing that change will take time. Success requires developing a group of stakeholders committed to continuing efforts on healthcare, by developing and maintaining organizational capacity at three levels: internal to the four lead partners, between the lead partners and other stakeholders, and among the stakeholder organizations and their constituencies. Sustainability also requires resources. Several foundations in Colorado have already begun investing in efforts to increase advocacy capacity related to healthcare reform; others are in the process. Our intent is to use this grant to leverage additional resources from national, state and local foundations to support and continue our work.

Over the past decade, there has been a significant shift in awareness, attitudes, and the vision for creating real health care reform in this country. With skyrocketing health care costs and deteriorating access to affordable coverage, more and more people are demanding change for a stronger health care system that is there when they need it.

Consumer Voices for Coverage is dedicated to boosting the enormous groundswell of activity at the state level to reduce the number of people living without health insurance. The program supports the important role that state-based consumer health advocacy can play in promoting innovative and comprehensive health reform efforts at the state level.