State Policy-Makers' Views on the Role of Consumer Advocates in Health Policy Discussions

To promote health care policies that achieve meaningful increases in health coverage at the state or federal level, and enhance the role that consumer advocates play in shaping health coverage policy, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) created the Consumer Voices for Coverage (CVC) program, which provided grants to consumer advocacy organizations and their partners in 12 states. The grants were designed to strengthen state-based consumer health advocacy networks, elevate the consumer voice in health care reform debates and advance policies to expand health coverage. RWJF engaged Mathematica Policy Research to evaluate the program.

As part of the evaluation, Mathematica interviewed key policy-makers in the 12 CVC states in mid-2010 to assess changes in the involvement, influence and effectiveness of consumer advocacy groups in shaping state health coverage policy over the period of the CVC grant program (2008 to 2010).