Request for Proposals: Promoting Partnerships to Strengthen Health Care Reform Advocacy

Request for Proposals: Promoting Partnerships to Strengthen Health Care Reform Advocacy

Northwest Health Foundation believes that all people have the right to access quality, affordable health care. We support organizations working to increase access in Oregon and southwest Washington, both within the current health care system and through a process of grassroots engagement in health reform.

With skyrocketing health care costs and deteriorating access to affordable care, there is agreement both at the national level and throughout Oregon that health care needs to be more affordable, available to everyone, and focused on improved health outcomes. In fact, health care reform, including legislative activity, is a hot issue in both Washington, DC, and here in Oregon. In June of 2009, two bills (HB 2116 and HB 2009) passed during Oregon’s 2009 legislative session which expanded health care coverage to all uninsured children and 35,000 uninsured adults, and created an Oregon Health Authority, which is responsible for streamlining and aligning state health purchasers and programs to maximize efficiency, organize state health policy and health services, and implement health reform policies and programs. HB 2009 also established the Oregon Health Policy Board (OHPB), which serves as the policy-making and oversight body for the Oregon Health Authority and is responsible for improving the health care delivery system (access, cost, quality) as well as improving the health of Oregonians. The OHPB will be developing recommendations the will lead to legislation for the 2011 Legislative Session.

Consequently, there is an important opportunity for health reform advocacy efforts to shape the next phases of health care reform implementation, which may include further expansion of health care coverage, and mechanisms to curb health care costs, create a more efficient, effective health care delivery system, and address health disparities inherent in the current system.

Health Care Reform Advocacy Grant Opportunity

Through this RFP, the Northwest Health Foundation seeks to encourage the voices of those most affected by health care reform to be represented in health care policy discussions. The Foundation will support the various efforts and organizations working to expand access and reform the system—including increasing the presence of diverse voices to highlight health equity in the health reform conversation—with a focus on planning for the 2011 legislative session.

The Foundation is particularly interested in applications that incorporate innovative or unusual partnerships between two or more organizations, and intends for this grant cycle to foster relationships that will strengthen both health care advocacy in the broad sense, as well as individual organizational capacity to engage in this arena. We anticipate that the portfolio of advocacy projects funded through this grant cycle will be diverse both in terms of the types of partnerships supported and the identified health care reform issues.

Specifically, the Foundation is seeking proposals from entities comprised of two or more partners to support health reform advocacy activities which include, but are not limited to, grassroots organizing, public-will building, coalition building and participation, communications and messaging, and policy analysis.

In addition to projects that advocate for further expansion of health care coverage, mechanisms to curb health care costs, and a more efficient, effective health care delivery system, we are also interested in projects that:
• seek to improve health equity, including confronting cultural, economic, or other systemic barriers to accessing quality health care;
• promote prevention and public health integration within health care reform efforts;
• focus on oral health issues; and
• address the unique access needs in rural areas.

The provision of direct health care services will not be funded during this grant cycle.

Grant Amounts and Duration

The Foundation intends to award at least 10 grants of up to $50,000. Projects may last up to 18 months.

Proposal Instructions

Ten sets of the complete application and two sets of the financial statement must be received at the Foundation office no later than 5:00 p.m. on March 15, 2010. Postmarked, faxed or e-mailed proposals will not be accepted. Please send or deliver your application sets to:

Northwest Health Foundation
221 NW Second Avenue, Suite 300
Portland, OR 97209

Key dates: March 15 – Proposals due
June 29 – Applicants informed of decisions
August 1 – Earliest start date for funding