Private Insurance: Related Links
Academy Health is a non-partisan professional society that convenes scientific and health policy conferences, educates business and government leaders on health policy issues, and synthesizes and disseminates scientific and health policy research.
AFL-CIO The AFL-CIO's mission is to bring social and economic justice to our nation by enabling working people to have a voice on the job, in government, in a changing global economy, and in their communities.
The American Accreditation HealthCare Commission/URAC is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable organization founded in 1990 to establish standards for the managed care industry. URAC's broad-based membership includes representation from all the constituencies affected by managed care, including employers, consumers, regulators, health care providers, and the workers' compensation and managed care industries.
Americans for Health Care is a project of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Their goal is to unite working families, small business owners, seniors, health care workers, community leaders, and policy makers to fight for affordable, quality health care that we can all count on.
Center for Studying Health System Change is a nonpartisan policy research organization. The group designs and conducts studies focused on the U.S. health care system that are designed to inform the thinking and decisions of policy makers in government and private industry.
The Commonwealth Fund is a private foundation that supports independent research on health and social issues and makes grants to improve health care practice and policy.
The Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) is a non-partisan, nonprofit organization that conducts research on social programs, improving the way health care services are organized and delivered, and making quality health care affordable.
The Georgetown University Health Policy Institute conducts research on key issues in health policy and health services.
The Health Assistance Partnership (HAP) is the national organization for consumer health assistance (ombudsman) programs. Health assistance programs serving consumers insured by private health insurance operate in at least 22 states. These programs assist consumers in securing individual or group insurance and in resolving problems with access to care.
Healthinsuranceinfo.net includes consumer guides to getting and keeping health insurance, written by the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute, are available for each state and the District of Columbia. These Consumer Guides are updated periodically as changes in federal and state policy warrant.
The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) evaluates and accredits more than 18,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States. JCAHO is an independent, not-for-profit, quality oversight body for health care organizations and managed care in the United States.
The Kaiser Family Foundation is a nonprofit, private operating foundation that focuses on the major health care issues facing the nation. The Foundation is an independent voice and source of facts and analysis for policymakers, the media, the health care community, and the general public.
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) is the organization of insurance regulators from the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the four U.S. territories.
The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to assessing and reporting on the quality of managed care plans. NCQA's mission is to provide information that enables purchasers and consumers of managed health care to distinguish among plans based on quality, thereby allowing them to make more informed health care purchasing decisions.
The National Health Council functions as a forum for policy development -- the place where all segments of the health care community meet for reasoned discussion and persuasive advocacy. The Council has more than 115 member organizations representing many areas of health care.
The National Health Policy Forum seeks to inform public policy around health care by assisting lawmakers at the local, state, and federal levels engage in discussion of health-related policy issues.
National Partnership for Women and Families is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that uses public education and advocacy to promote fairness in the workplace, quality health care, and policies that help women and men meet the dual demands of work and family.
Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is the nation's largest health care union, representing over 755,000 health care professionals. The SEIU is 1.8 million working people and 120,000 retirees united to improve jobs and our communities.
Speakout.com is a non-partisan, political portal Web site that covers a variety of issues facing the American people today. The Health Care Activism Center on the site allows voters to learn about health care and patients' rights issues and communicate their feelings to each other and their elected officials.
State Coverage Initiatives is a national initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation that works with states to plan, execute, and maintain health insurance expansions, as well as to improve the availability and affordability of health care coverage.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services provides information about protecting your health insurance coverage when you change or lose a job.
The U.S. Department of Labor provides some consumer health information, such as how to file a claim if you are denied a benefit.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury provides information on HSAs (health savings accounts), the Health Coverage Tax Credit, and other tax-related health initiatives.
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