The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), or just Kaiser Family Foundation, is a U.S.-based non-profit, private operating foundation headquartered in Menlo Park, California. Its focuses on the major health care issues facing the nation, with a growing role in global health. The Foundation is an independent voice and source of facts and analysis for policymakers, the media, the health care community, and the general public.

Unlike grant-making foundations, KFF develops and runs its own research and communications programs, often in partnership with outside organizations. Through its policy research and communications programs, the Foundation works to provide reliable information in a health system in which the issues are increasingly complex and the nation faces difficult challenges and choices.^[1]

History

The Foundation was established in 1948 by Henry J. Kaiser. In 1977, ten years after Kaiser's death, his conglomerate of disparate organizations split apart. The Kaiser Family Foundation was initially a major owner of these shares, at the time of dissolution, the Foundation owned 32 percent according to Fortune Magazine.^[2]

By 1985, the foundation no longer had an ownership stake in Kaiser's old companies, and therefore is no longer associated with Kaiser Permanente or Kaiser Industries. Family members did not retain seats on Kaiser companies, but have remained active with the foundation.^[3]

What the Foundation currently does

Policy analysis and research

The Foundation publishes research and analysis to foster understanding of increasingly complex policy issues in the U.S. Much of the work focuses on the issues and debates affecting those most vulnerable and disadvantaged, including Medicaid and Medicare beneficiaries, the uninsured, people living with HIV/AIDS, low-income women, and racial and ethnic minorities, helping policymakers and the media understand what?s driving changes in the health system. Medicaid, the country?s largest public health insurance program, has always been a special focus and in 1991, the Foundation established, the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured (KCMU). Kaiser is well-known for public opinion research, documenting the views and experiences of the public on health and related issues ? often in partnership with major news organizations, such as The Washington Post. Another prominent Kaiser research effort examines the role of media on the lives of young people. ^[4]

Health news and information

Kaiser both provides health policy news and information and assists working journalists to improve the coverage of health in the mainstream media.

Through kaisernetwork.org, the Foundation provides daily summaries of news and developments in health policy, HIV/AIDS, and racial and ethnic health disparities. The webcasting service provides online video of hundreds of events and conferences each year. Through the Foundation?s other websites: statehealthfacts.org, kaiserEDU.org, GlobalHealthFacts.org, GlobalHealthReporting.org and health08.org, Kaiser is essentially a synthesizer and broker of information, providing timely and easy access to health news and facts worldwide.

In 1993, Kaiser began helping journalists keep policymakers and the public well-informed when it started their fellowship program for journalists.^[4]

Public health information campaigns

Kaiser develops and helps run public health information campaigns in the U.S. and around the world focusing on HIV/AIDS, with an emphasis on reaching young people. Through direct partnerships with major media companies, these multi-platform communications reach tens of millions of people annually. Current partners in the U.S. include MTV, BET, Univision, Viacom/CBS, and FOX.

Kaiser has also helped launch broadcast media initiatives around the world in Russia and India, as well as coordinated regional initiatives in Africa and the Caribbean involving more than 100 broadcasters working together in almost 50 countries.

Kaiser has also maintained a long-running program in South Africa to help South Africans establish a more equitable national health system and build a successful democracy. The program currently focuses on the devastating HIV epidemic in South Africa.^[4]

The foundation is a major supporter of The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, along with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.^[5] In 2007, the foundation began a Web site relating to the health issues in the 2008 U.S. presidential election.^[6]

References

External links

• Kaiser Family Foundation
• The Kaiser Family Foundation's Role in Today's Health Care System
• kaisernetwork.org
• kaiserEDU.org
• ItsYourSexLife.com
• statehealthfacts.org
• GlobalHealthReporting.org
• GlobalHealthFacts.org
• health08.org
• States Moving Towards Comprehensive Health Care Reform in the U.S.