Health Advocacy & Policy
For everyone in America to have the chance to live as healthy a life as possible, we need public policies that not only maximize access to affordable, quality healthcare, but also work to elevate communities and dismantle systemic barriers to wellbeing.
In the nation’s capital and at the state and local level, we use our knowledge and the expertise of our partners to provide policymakers and others with analysis, evidence, and potential approaches. We fund research, provide resources like nonpartisan analyses, participate in convenings, coalitions, and briefings to achieve health equity faster and pave the way, together, to a future where health is no longer a privilege, but a right.
Policy Brief Library
Across our work, we leverage decades of research to assist policymakers in efforts to safeguard and improve health in the communities they serve. We support the translation of nonpartisan research and evidence into health policy briefs. These briefs strive to explain key policy issues in a concise, easily digestible format.
Marketplace Pulse: Off the Cliff in Farm Country
Marketplace Pulse: Off the Cliff in Farm Country
Marketplace Pulse: Bronze Plans with Premiums of $50 or Less Become Scarce in 2026
From the Blog
How We Are Shaping Federal Policy to Drive Health Equity
How to Counter Preemption Laws That Can Undermine Health Equity
Policies for Action
Policies for Action (P4A) is a signature research program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation administered through the national coordinating center at the Urban Institute. This program funds research that identifies policies, laws, and other regulatory tools that can be leveraged to help achieve health and racial equity.
Latest Regulatory Comments
When given the opportunity to publicly comment on proposed policies and regulations that coincide with our focus areas, RWJF provides data and evidence to decisionmakers.
- Comments From Richard Besser, MD, on HHS Proposed Rule to Prohibit Coverage of Gender-Affirming Care for Minors Under Medicaid and CHIP 02/13/2026
- Comments From Richard Besser, MD, on HHS Proposed Rule to Prohibit Gender-Affirming Care for Minors in Hospitals Participating in Medicare and Medicaid 02/13/2026
- Comments From Richard Besser, MD, on the HHS Office for Civil Rights Proposed Rule on Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability 01/21/2026
- Comments From Richard Besser, MD, on the HHS Office for Civil Rights Proposed Rule on Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability 01/20/2026
- Comments from Richard Besser, MD, on FDA’s Proposed Rule to Reduce Nicotine in Certain Tobacco Products 09/15/2025
- Comments From Richard Besser, MD, on the Trump Administration Reinterpretation of the Term “Federal Public Benefit” 08/13/2025
- Comments from Richard Besser, MD, on Proposed Changes to Affordable Care Act Marketplace Rules 04/12/2025
- Comments by Richard Besser, MD, on Proposal to Improve Information-Sharing Between IRS and Census 04/29/2024
- Comments Submitted by RWJF on Drinking Water Regulations for Lead and Copper 02/05/2024
- Comments from Richard Besser, MD, Urging Census Bureau to Pause Proposed Changes to Disability Questions 12/14/2023