Stephen L. Isaacs, J.D., is the president of the Center for Health and Social Policy in San Francisco, California. A former professor of public health at Columbia University and founding director of its Development Law and Policy Program, Isaacs has written extensively for professional and popular audiences. His book The Consumer's Legal Guide to Today's Health Care was reviewed as "the single best guide to the health care system in print today"; his articles have been widely syndicated and have appeared in law reviews and health policy journals. He also provides technical assistance internationally on health law, civil society, and social policy. A graduate of Columbia Law School and Brown University, Isaacs served as vice president of International Planned Parenthood's Latin American division, practiced health law, and spent four years in Thailand as a program officer for the U.S. Agency for International Development. He serves on the Advisory Council of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the Advisory Board of Women's Rights Project of Human Rights Watch, and the board of trustees of the Royce mutual funds.

James R. Knickman, Ph.D., is vice president for research and evaluation at The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Prior to joining the Foundation in October 1992, he was a professor of health administration at New York University's Robert Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. He has published extensively on a range of health care issues and done research on insurance markets and health care reimbursement systems, with particular attention to long-term care services. He also has written about methods for improving health services for urban, vulnerable populations such as the homeless, the frail elderly, and individuals with HIV illness. Knickman has served on a range of state government, local government, and health care sector advisory committees and has offered consultation to numerous health sector organizations. Currently, he serves on the board of trustees of the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. He received his doctorate in public policy analysis from the University of Pennsylvania and did undergraduate work at Fordham University.