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Virginia Health Policy Research Links

Joint Commission on Health Care
This bicameral, bipartisan body of appointed legislators examines health policy issues.

Virginia Department of Health
This state government site provides state initiatives, health programs, and research data from the Virginia Department of Health.

Virginia healthcare workforce data center
Follow the blog on tumblr at vahwdc.tumblr.com

The Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis
Provides independent and accessible information and analyses of fiscal and economic issues with particular attention to the impacts on low- and moderate-income persons.

Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (DBHDS)
State agency for mental and behavioral health, intellectual disabilities, and substance use disorder. Contains a series of reports on these issues.

Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS)
Virginia’s Medicaid agency that administers Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program in Virginia. Also contains a series of reports on the state of Medicaid services.

James Madison University Library's Health Policy page
JMU's library website for health policy offers additional resources and other material helpful for researching health policy.

Federal/National Research Links

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
Federal government site that covers major health programs, initiatives, and program evaluation research data.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Federal government site covering all Medicare and Medicaid programs.

Compare Hospital Prices
OpsCost makes public data more accessible and helps individuals share the bills they have received. It is not affiliated with any company, lobby, trade group or government agency involved with healthcare.

Health Resources and Service Administration
This federal government site provides grant funding for major initiative research and programs that meet federal health care objectives, provides data on existing program research and health promotional research and programs.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
This foundation site provides funding opportunities for major healthcare initiatives in the country. Includes reports on issues funded by the RWJ Foundation.

National Academy of Medicine
An independent nonprofit organization that works independent of the government but often works on congressional research mandates on major national health initiatives. They provide unbiased and authoritative advice to congress and other public policy makers.

The Kaiser Family Foundation
A foundation with the goal of providing unbiased up-to-date information on major health issues and a great source for information on the Affordable Care Act.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Major federal government agency website providing resource information on disease prevention and management.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
The agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that leads public health efforts to advance the behavioral health of the nation. SAMHSA's mission is to reduce the impact of substance abuse and mental illness in America's communities.

PolicyLink 
A national research and action organization that advances economic and social equity with a focus on “what works.”

AcademyHealth
Seeks to improve health and health care by generating new knowledge and moving knowledge into action.

The Commonwealth Fund
Private nonprofit foundation that promotes a high-performing health care system to improve access, quality and efficiency, particularly for society’s most vulnerable populations.

Kids Count
A non-partisan, evidence-based project of the Annie E. Casey Foundation that tracks the well-being of children in the U.S. They work to enrich local, state, and national discussions concerning ways to secure better futures for all children and to raise the visibility of children’s issues.

Virginia Health Policy Advocacy Links

The Virginia General Assembly
This is a good website to track legislation, find your legislator, locate Virginia laws and budgets.

Va.’s Legislative Information System (LIS)
Find bill information for each General Assembly session. You can also search for keywords in bills or bill summaries and see the history of how each bill progressed through both houses of the General Assembly.

Lobbyist-in-a-Box, LIS (LIAB)
This website tracks the Virginia legislative process. You can set up a free account for up to five bills in any legislative session, and LIAB will help you monitor their progress throughout the session.

The Virginia Public Access Project
This nonprofit, tax-exempt organization serves to keep readers abreast of daily news around the Commonwealth on state and local political/policy concerns. It also serves to link technology with public understanding of money’s role in Virginia politics.

League of Women Voters of Virginia
Nonpartisan political organization of men and women that fosters informed and active participation in government. They works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy.

Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy
Virginia’s oldest faith-based advocacy group. A nonpartisan coalition of faith communities working to create progressive public policy by engaging people of faith, educating the public about social issues, the legislative process, and the call to advocacy.

Politifact Virginia
Tracks positions taken by candidates, politicians, and political parties to determine the veracity of the claims made by these parties.

Federal/National Advocacy Links

The U.S. Government
Federal website that highlights specific topics and governmental agencies with great search engine for investigating federal aspects of issues.

The U.S. Congress
This is a good website to track federal legislation, find your legislator, and track federal committee work and the federal budget process.

American Legislative Exchange Council
Works to advance limited government, free markets, and federalism at the state level through a nonpartisan public-private partnership of America’s state legislators, members of the private sector and the general public.

GovTrack.us
The website tracks federal legislation in detail throughout the process of policy formation.

Politifact
Tracks positions, statements, political ads of candidates, parties, and incumbents for their veracity.

American Public Health Association
This association addresses issues of social justice.

Professional Associations

American Nurses Association

The Virginia Public Health Association

American Public Health Association

Legislative Coalition of Virginia Nurses 

National Conference of State Legislatures 

American Medical Association

American Psychological Association

American Academy of Physician Assistants

Associated JMU Departments

School of Nursing

Department of Health Sciences

Department of Health Professions

College of Business - Department of Economics

Department of Social Work

Communication Sciences & Disorders

School of Communication Studies

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