The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation believes health insurance coverage is essential for good health and should be available to all Americans. In 2011, more than 48 million people in the United States lived without health insurance, including 7 million children.
The Foundation operates on the principle that coverage should be:
- Affordable;
- Comprehensive and include all necessary, appropriate and effective health care services;
- Continuous and portable;
- High-quality and cost-effective; and
- Grounded in a shared responsibility between the public sector, the private sector and individuals.
Since 1972, the Foundation has worked to expand access to coverage to all Americans. While the Affordable Care Act (ACA) presents a historic opportunity to significantly expand health coverage, these gains are far from assured.
Covering more Americans relies, in large part, on state action. Accordingly, a great deal of the Foundation's attention is on the states, as they are largely responsible for implementing the coverage policies in the law.
Learn about the Coverage Grantees
Technical Assistance to States.
RWJF assists states in optimally implementing the ACA to cover the highest possible number of Americans. Technical assistance focuses on: (1) creating health insurance marketplaces; (2) expanding state Medicaid programs; (3) establishing seamless eligibility determination, enrollment and retention systems; and (4) reforming the small-group and individual insurance markets.
Policy Analysis and Research.
The Foundation supports research and analysis to assist state health leaders. We are proud to support real-time policy analysis by the Urban Institute, the State Health Access Data Assistance Center at the University of Minnesota, and Changes in Health Care Financing and Organization, which is our long-standing initiative that supports investigator-initiated research.
See recent Coverage grantee research
The Foundation does not fund direct health care services to individuals, or direct subsidies for health insurance. The Foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals for its work in coverage.
More information on the issues RWJF seeks to address