Kaiser Family Foundation

Prepared by: David Kim
Updated: 3/22/08

Website: http://kff.org

Mission:
“Since we began in 1991, our goal has been to build an institution that plays a special role as a trusted source of information in a health care world dominated by vested interests. That institution-building process continues today.”
Drew Altman, Ph.D.
President and CEO

To serve as a non-partisan source of facts, information, and analysis for policymakers, the media, the health care community, and the public on major health care issue facing the U.S., with a growing role in global health.

Inspiration/History:
“Industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and his wife Bess established the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation in 1948 with the goal of meeting “the unmet health care needs of the citizenry.” One of Henry Kaiser’s favorite sayings was “find a need and fill it,” and that’s what the Foundation has tried to do. While the Foundation was established in 1948, it is in a sense a relatively young organization. Under the leadership of CEO Drew Altman, Kaiser was completely remade from the ground up beginning in 1991, with the mission, expertise, programs, and operating foundation-style it’s known for today.”
http://kff.org

Business Model:
“With an endowment of over half a billion dollars, Kaiser has an operating budget of over $40 million per year. The Foundation operates almost exclusively with its own resources, though we do occasionally receive funds from grant-making foundations, primarily to expand our global programs.”
http://kff.org

Theory of Change:
Kaiser Family Foundation seeks to help policymakers, the healthcare community, and the public address issues on health by providing useful services through accurate information and effective programs that are made possible by strategic joint ventures with news and media entities, large spending allocation for research and analysis, and public health information campaigns.

Core Programs:
“Our work is focused in three main areas: Health Policy, Media and Public Education, and Health and Development in South Africa.

Through our Health Policy program, we provide facts, analysis, and explanation on health policy issues to policymakers, the media and the public. We try to provide information and analysis on a broad range of policy issues, emphasizing those that most affect low-income and vulnerable populations.

Through our Media and Public Education program, we work to broadly communicate information about health care issues to our audiences and to give people information that can help improve their health. As part of this effort, the Foundation operates the country's largest program in public opinion research on health issues and conducts a wide range of research projects on the impact of media in contemporary society. We also operate more than 20 joint ventures with different news and entertainment media organizations to reach key target groups with information on public health issues like reproductive health and HIV. Through our online information programs, the Foundation directly provides health policy and public health information to the health care community and the public.

Through our program for Health and Development in South Africa, the Foundation continues its more than 15 year-long commitment to help South Africa develop a more equitable health system and a successful democracy.”
http://kff.org

Recent Developments (if applicable):
Grammy Winner Common, MTV, and Kaiser Family Foundation Launch Lyrics Contest To Promote HIV Testing -- February 2008

Biography of Matt James:
“Matt James, Senior Vice President for Media and Public Education, Kaiser Family Foundation, Executive Director, kaisernetwork.org
Mr. James is responsible for a large portion of the Kaiser Family Foundation's project initiatives. Mr. James currently serves on the board of trustees of the Morris K. Udall Foundation, the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health and on advisory committees for the Council on Foundations and Independent Sector. Prior to joining the Foundation in 1991, Mr. James spent many years on Capitol Hill as Chief of Staff for Congressman Morris K. Udall and as a communication and political aide to Senators Dale Bumpers and the late Daniel Patrick Moynihan. Mr. James was also a former newscaster and reporter and is widely published, with articles appearing in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), The Los Angeles Times, The Detroit Free Press, The Washingtonian, and many other magazines and newspapers. He is a graduate of Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo.”
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/static/about_editorial.cfm

Questions to be Raised During Visit (3-4):
1) What is your analysis on the current state of health care system in the U.S. compared to that of other nations?
2) Has Kaiser Family Foundation considered switching to a for-profit model?
3) What are the directions for growth and development for Kaiser Family Foundation?
4) What are other groups that provide the similar services as Kaiser?

Further Resources (2-3):
www.kaisernetwork.org
www.statehealthfacts.org
www.kaiserEDU.org
www.GlobalHealthReporting.org
www.GlobalHealthFacts.org
www.health08.org