National Advocacy Groups

Organizations that advocate for health care reform at the national level

AARP
AARP is a nonprofit membership organization dedicated to addressing the needs and interests of persons 50 and older. Through information and education, advocacy and service, we seek to enhance the quality of life for all by promoting independence, dignity, and purpose.

ACORN
ACORN is the nation's largest grassroots community organization of low- and moderate-income people, with over 400,000 member families organized into more than 1,200 neighborhood chapters in 110 cities across the country. Since 1970, ACORN has been building community organizations that are committed to social and economic justice, and won victories on thousands of issues of concern to our members, through direct action, negotiation, legislative advocacy, and voter participation.

AFSCME
The American Federation of State, County, and Municiple Employees (AFSCME) has over 1.3 million members - public service and health care workers - who have built the most active and powerful union in the Labor movement for one single purpose: to make sure that each and every member of AFSCME gets a fair deal from the boss and from the politicians.

AFTRA
The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) is a national labor union representing over 70,000 performers, journalists, and other artists working in the entertainment and news media.

Alliance for Justice
The Alliance for Justice is a national association of environmental, civil rights, mental health, women's, children's, and consumer advocacy organizations. Since its inception in 1979, the Alliance has worked to advance the cause of justice for all Americans, strengthen the public interest community's ability to influence public policy, and foster the next generation of advocates.

American Academy of Pediatrics
The mission of the American Academy of Pediatrics is to attain optimal physical, mental, and social health and well-being for all infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. To this purpose, the AAP and its members dedicate their efforts and resources.

American Public Health Association
The American Public Health Association (APHA) is the oldest and largest organization of public health professionals in the world, representing more than 50,000 members from over 50 occupations of public health.

Americans for Democratic Action
Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) is the nation's oldest independent liberal political organization, dedicated to individual liberty and building economic and social justice at home and abroad. Since 1947, we have led public opinion and coalitions by taking early, principled stands on a broad range of domestic, foreign, economic, military, social, and environmental issues.

Asian and Pacific Islander American Health Forum
The Asian and Pacific Islander American Health Forum (APIAHF) is a national advocacy organization dedicated to promoting policy, program, and research efforts for the improvement of health status of all Asian American and Pacific Islander communities.

Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations
The Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations (AAPCHO) is a national association representing community health organizations dedicated to promoting advocacy, collaboration, and leadership that improves the health status and access of Asian Americans & Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders within the United States, its territories, and freely associated states, primarily through our member community health centers.

Center for Policy Analysis
The Center for Policy Analysis is an independent organization dedicated to protecting human health and expanding access to health care, water, and other vital human services.

Child Advocate
The Child Advocate and Child Mental Health are devoted to children and the parents and professionals that work with them and advocate for them. The Child Advocate Network is a national network. All resources and contributions go directly to supporting children, families and professionals through the website and internet support.

Child Welfare League of America
The Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) is the nation's oldest and largest membership-based child welfare organization. We are committed to engaging people everywhere in promoting the well-being of children, youth, and their families, and protecting every child from harm.

Children Now
Children Now is a research and action organization dedicated to assuring that children grow up in economically secure families, where parents can go to work confident that their children are supported by quality health coverage, a positive media environment, a good early education, and safe, enriching activities to do after school.

Children's Defense Fund
The mission of the Children's Defense Fund is to Leave No Child Behind, and to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start, and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities.

The Children's Partnership
The Children's Partnership is a national nonprofit, nonpartisan organization whose mission is to inform leaders and the public about the needs of America's 70 million children, and to engage them in ways that benefit children. The Partnership undertakes research and policy analysis, publishes reports and multimedia materials, and forges new alliances among parents, policymakers and the private sector to achieve tangible gains for children.

Coalition on Human Needs
The Coalition on Human Needs (CHN) is an alliance of national organizations working together to promote public policies that address the needs of low-income and other vulnerable populations. The Coalition's members include civil rights, religious, labor and professional organizations and those concerned with the well being of children, women, the elderly and people with disabilities.

Coalition for Asian-American Children and Families
The Coalition for Asian American Children and Families advocates for social policies and programs which support Asian American children and families, empowers Asian Americans to advocate for change, and gives service providers culturally sensitive training and resources.

Common Cause
Common Cause is a nonprofit, nonpartisan citizen's lobbying organization promoting open, honest, and accountable government. Supported by the dues and contributions of over 200,000 members in every state across the nation, Common Cause represents the unified voice of the people against corruption in government and big money special interests.

Community Catalyst
Community Catalyst is a national advocacy organization that has been giving consumers a voice in health care reform for more than a decade. They provide leadership and support to state and local consumer organizations, policymakers and foundations that are working to guarantee access to high-quality, affordable health care and health coverage for everyone.

Community Voices
Community Voices: Health Care for the Underserved is a group of community-based demonstration projects dedicated to finding real-life ways to provide greater access to quality health care to the underserved and uninsured people in America.

Connect for Kids
Connect for Kids, an award-winning multimedia project of the Benton Foundation, helps adults make their communities better places for families and children. The Web site offers a place on the Internet for adults, parents, grandparents, educators, policymakers, and others-who want to become more active citizens, from volunteering to voting with kids in mind.

Consumers Union
Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports, is an independent, nonprofit testing and information organization serving only consumers. We are a comprehensive source for unbiased advice about products and services, personal finance, health and nutrition, and other consumer concerns.

Cover the Uninsured
Cover the Uninsured, a project of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is a national effort to highlight the fact that too many Americans are living without health insurance and to demand solutions from our nation's leaders.

The Democracy Center
The Democracy Center was founded in San Francisco in 1992 to strengthen the advocacy work of nonprofit and community groups in California, as well as NGOs in a variety of countries around the world. Since then, the Center has provided advocacy training, counseling, strategy planning, and other assistance to hundreds of groups and thousands of people.

Families USA
Families USA is a national nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to the achievement of high-quality, affordable health and long-term care for all Americans. Working at the national, state, and community levels, Families USA has earned a national reputation as an effective voice for health care consumers for over 15 years.

Gray Panthers
Gray Panthers is an intergenerational advocacy organization. From ages 9 to 93, we are Age and Youth in Action; activists working together for social and economic justice. Our issues include universal health care; jobs with a living wage; the right to organize; preservation of Social Security; affordable housing; access to quality education; economic justice; environment; peace; and challenging ageism, sexism, and racism.

MALDEF
The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) is the leading nonprofit Latino litigation, advocacy, and educational outreach institution in the United States. MALDEF's mission is to foster sound public policies, laws, and programs to safeguard the civil rights of the 35 million Latinos living in the United States, and to empower the Latino community to full participate in our society.

National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems
The National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems (NAPH) represents over 100 hospitals and health systems that together comprise the essential infrastructure of many of America's largest metropolitan health systems. Since its inception in 1980, NAPH has cultivated a strong presence on Capitol Hill, with the executive branch, and in many state capitols. Our association has made significant strides in its twenty-year history in educating federal, state, and local decision makers about the unique needs of and challenges faced by member hospitals and the nation's most vulnerable populations.

National Association of State Budget Officers
The National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO) serves as the professional membership organization for state finance officers. The major functions of the organization consist of research, policy development, education, training, and technical assistance. These are achieved primarily through NASBO�s publications, membership meetings, and training sessions.

National Black Child Development Institute
Since 1970 The National Black Child Development Institute (NBCDI), a nonprofit organization, has provided and supported programs, workshops, and resources for African American children, their parents, and communities in areas suich as early health and education, health, elementary and secondary education, child welfare, and parenting

National Center for Policy Analysis
The goal of the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA) is to develop and promote private alternatives to government regulation and control, solving problems by relying on the strength of the competitive, entrepreneurial private sector. Topics include reforms in health care, taxes, Social Security, welfare, criminal justice, education, and environmental regulation.

National Coalition for the Homeless
Our mission is to end homelessness. We focus our work in the following four areas: housing justice, economic justice, health care justice, and civil rights. Our approaches are: grassroots organizing, public education, policy advocacy, technical assistance, and partnerships.

National Council of La Raza
The National Council of La Raza (NCLR) is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan, tax-exempt organization established in 1968 to reduce poverty and discrimination, and improve life opportunities for Hispanic Americans.

National Health Care for the Homeless Council
The mission of the National Council is to help bring about reform of the health care system to best serve the needs of people who are homeless, to work in alliance with others whose broader purpose is to eliminate homelessness, and to provide support to Council members.

National Health Law Program, Inc.
The National Health Law Program (NHeLP) is a national public interest law firm that seeks to improve health care for America's working and unemployed poor, minorities, the elderly, and people with disabilities. NHeLP serves legal services programs, community-based organizations, the private bar, providers, and individuals who work to preserve a health care safety net for the millions of uninsured or underinsured low-income people.

National Immigration Law Center
The National Immigration Law Center (NILC) is a national support center whose mission is to protect and promote the rights and opportunities of low-income immigrants and their family members. NILC staff specialize in immigration law, and the employment and public benefits rights of immigrants.

National Network for Immunization Information
The mission of the National Network for Immunization Information (NNII) is to provide the public, health professionals, policy makers, and the media with up-to-date, scientifically valid information related to immunization to help them understand the issues and to make informed decisions.

Pacific Institute for Women's Health
The Pacific Institute for Women's Health improves the health and well-being of women and girls, locally and globally. We work through advocacy, training, community involvement, applied research, and evaluation. Fundamental to our efforts is the principle that women's health is a human right.

Public Welfare Foundation
The Public Welfare Foundation supports efforts to ensure fundamental rights and opportunities for people in need. We look for carefully defined points where our funds can make a difference in bringing about systemic changes that can improve the lives of countless people.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation was established as a national philanthropy in 1972 and today is the largest US foundation devoted to improving the health and health care of all Americans.

Screen Actors Guild
Screen Actors Guild (SAG) is the nation's largest labor union representing working actors. Established in 1933, SAG has a rich history in the American labor movement. The Guild exists to enhance actors' working conditions, compensation, and benefits, and to be a powerful, unified voice on behalf of artists' rights.

Service Employees International Union
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is an organization of 2 million members united by the belief in the dignity and worth of workers and the services they provide, and dedicated to improving the lives of workers and their families and creating a more just and humane society.

Stand For Children
Stand for Children is America's only nationwide grassroots voice for children. Our members take action at the national, state, community, and neighborhood levels. From early childhood education and the schools to after-school programs and health services, we take on the issues affecting our kids.

Tomas Rivera Policy Institute
The Tomas Rivera Policy Institute conducts and disseminates objective, policy-relevant research and its implications to decision makers on key issues affecting Latino communities.

US Action
US Action is the nation's largest progressive activist organization, dedicated to winning social, racial, and economic justice for all. We join together from different backgrounds around an issue of common concern: to take our democracy back from the corporate elite and the well-heeled special interests that dominate the political process today.

Voices for America's Children
Voices for America's Children is a nonpartisan, national organization committed to speaking out for the well-being of children at the federal, state, and local levels of government. Since 1984, Voices has supported child advocates nationwide who have achieved public policy victories for children in early education, health, juvenile justice, child welfare, tax and budget decisions, and other areas.