Health

Governors play an essential role in addressing the health needs of the public across all domains. NGA’s Center for Best Practices supports Governors’ offices in addressing emerging public health crises, improving access and quality of care for behavioral health and substance use disorders, and finding ways to innovate healthcare delivery.

To support Governors’ priorities, the NGA Health Team provides information, research synthesis, policy analysis, technical assistance, special projects, and resources to Governors and their staff on a variety of health topics including: public health infrastructure, chronic and infectious diseases, rural health issues, healthcare workforce, cost and coverage issues, behavioral health, health equity, and maternal and child health. NGA also provides special opportunities for states and territories to engage in more in-depth technical assistance such as through policy academies, learning collaboratives, workshops, and roundtables on pressing policy issues. With an emphasis on finding equitable solutions to some of the most demanding health issues, Governors establish partnerships, utilize state and territorial resources, and work across multiple sectors and state/territory agencies to develop and promote relationships to improve the public’s health. In addition to providing timely and individualized Governors’ office-focused technical assistance to Governors, their health advisors, and state and territory agency leadership, our team is working to aid Governors and health leaders in state and territory wide transformation efforts to build and improve the nation’s health through transformation efforts.

Services

  • Strategic planning facilitation and best practice guidance on health topics or initiatives
  • Annual HHS Advisors Institute for state/territory leaders on emerging health issues
  • Regular communications and briefings to health policy advisors on health topics
  • Customized research briefs and best practice presentations upon request
  • Strategic guidance, feedback, and meeting facilitation support to relevant advisors
  • Coordinating groups such as the Health Policy Advisors Network, Opioid State Action Network (OSAN), Medicaid Advisors Network, etc…

NGA Health Networks

  • Health Equity Learning Network – In 2023, the NGA Center convened states and territories to discuss approaches and communication strategies regarding health equity. With support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), the NGA Center for Best Practices launched the “NGA Health Equity Learning Network.” The learning network is an opportunity for Governors’ offices and their health leaders to address health equity priorities. The learning network will focus on state and territory best practices related to health equity policy across several populations, including people with disabilities, racially and ethnically marginalized groups, and rural communities.
  • Health Policy Advisors Network – The Health Policy Advisors Network convenes Governor’s advisors on critical challenges in health impacting their states or territories. Through monthly calls that foster collaboration, the network is able to be a platform for sharing insights, strategies, and best practices for an evolving health landscape. 
  • Medicaid Advisors Network – The Medicaid Advisors Network brings together Governors’ Medicaid advisors and Medicaid state agency policy analysts to discuss key regulations and analyze the impacts on states and territories through a series of capacity building tools such as monthly roundtables, technical assistance and resource sharing. Members of the network focus on sustainable funding solutions, improving quality of care for Medicaid beneficiaries, and closing gaps in access to care. 
  • Opioid State Action Network – The Opioid State Action Network is comprised of Governor’s office staff (including policy advisors for criminal justice and health) and state officials from departments of public safety, corrections, health, behavioral health, Medicaid, and other related agencies. This network convenes to discuss critical new developments in opioid litigation and state policy. 

Focus Areas

  • Addressing Infectious Diseases Related to SUD/OUD
  • Adverse Childhood Experiences and Trauma
  • Cost and Coverage
  • Disease Prevention and Management
  • Health Equity
  • Health Workforce
  • Maternal and Child Health
  • Medicaid
  • Population Health
  • Public Health Infrastructure
  • Social Drivers of Health
  • Substance Use and Substance Use Disorder

Meet the Team

  • Marianne Gibson, Program Director
  • Brittney Roy, Program Director
  • Alex Entner, Policy Analyst
  • Anna Heard, Senior Policy Analyst
  • Asia Riviere, Policy Analyst
  • Chyenne Tran, Policy Analyst
  • Grace Burns, Policy Coordinator

Improving Maternal and Child Health in Rural America

With generous support from the Health Resources and Services Administration, Merck for Mothers, Pritzker Family Foundation, and March of Dimes, The National Governors Association Center for Best Practices launched a Learning Collaborative in March 2024 to support nine Governors’ offices as they work to improve maternal and child health (MCH) outcomes. The Collaborative supports the growth and development of state and territory-level, rural MCH initiatives. States currently participate in the Collaborative include: Alabama, American Samoa, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington. Learn more…


NextGen Healthcare Workforce Project Year 3

NGA launched the Next Generation of the Healthcare Workforce project in 2022 with support from HRSA. The project supports Governors’ offices and other senior state officials in implementing strategies to strengthen and grow the next generation of the healthcare workforce. Year three of this project will focus on a policy academy and learning network to lay the foundation for new initiatives, funding opportunities, or administrative policies for improving healthcare workforce. Learn more…


Health Equity Learning Network

In 2023, the NGA Center convened states to discuss approaches and communication strategies regarding health equity. In 2024, the NGA Center will facilitate a learning network of states and territories interested in advancing their health equity goals. Learn more…


Towards Epidemic Preparedness

Through the “Towards Epidemic Preparedness: Enhancing Public Health Infrastructure and Incorporating Data-Driven Tools project, the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) seeks to build on its strong history of working across sectors in a bipartisan fashion to support the needs of the U.S. Governors and their trusted advisors in 55 states and territories. Specifically, the NGA Center is supporting Governors and other senior state officials by providing technical assistance, and engaging Governors’ advisors to identify best practices for implementing forecasting models to predict infectious disease outbreaks and empower response. This project is in collaboration with the Center for Outbreak Response Innovation (CORI) at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security


NGA Health Libraries

Behavioral Health

Strengthening Youth Mental Health – 2023 NGA Annual Meeting

Strengthening Youth Mental Health – 2023 NGA Annual Meeting

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy opened the first plenary session of the 2023 NGA Annual Meeting with an overview of his 2022-2023 Chair’s Initiative: Strengthening Youth Mental Health, noting the ...
NGA 2023 Annual Meeting

NGA 2023 Annual Meeting

The National Governors Association’s 2023 Annual Meeting was held in Atlantic City, New Jersey, from July 12th – July 14th. The Annual Meeting is an opportunity for Governors to share ...
Strengthening Youth Mental Health: A Governor’s Playbook

Strengthening Youth Mental Health: A Governor’s Playbook

The Playbook is intended to serve as a tool for states to further impactful policy solutions that strengthen youth mental health. Nationally, the current state of youth mental health is often labeled ...
Resource Guide on State Actions to Prevent and Mitigate Adverse Childhood Experiences and Trauma

Resource Guide on State Actions to Prevent and Mitigate Adverse Childhood Experiences and Trauma

States are actively engaged in supporting trauma-informed best practices to mitigate the effects of ACEs and trauma and promote resilience for their communities. (Download) In 2021, the National Governors Association ...
Leveraging Telehealth for Justice-involved Populations With Substance Use Disorders

Leveraging Telehealth for Justice-involved Populations With Substance Use Disorders

This brief reviews activities undertaken by states to expand the use of telehealth for justice-involved individuals with SUDs during the COVID-19 pandemic, share lessons learned, and highlight considerations for Governors ...
Protecting Behavioral Health During Economic Downturns

Protecting Behavioral Health During Economic Downturns

Preventing overdose and other drug-related harms is a priority for the nation's Governors, and the illicit supply of drugs remains more lethal than ever. Economic downturns are linked to adverse ...

Healthcare Delivery

Public Health and Healthcare: Creating a Culture of Accountability and Coordination

Public Health and Healthcare: Creating a Culture of Accountability and Coordination

Optimal health is reliant on coordinated, and at times, integrated public health and healthcare systems. Public health systems aim to support population-level health through the prevention of acute and chronic ...
DPAD Learning Collaborative

DPAD Learning Collaborative

In January 2023, participants from Illinois, Nevada, North Carolina and Pennsylvania attended the kickoff meeting for the National Governors Association’s (NGA) Learning Collaborative on Strategies to Support the Development of ...
State Strategies to Support Marketplace Plan Enrollment as the Medicaid Continuous Coverage Requirement Winds Down

State Strategies to Support Marketplace Plan Enrollment as the Medicaid Continuous Coverage Requirement Winds Down

Just as states have customized their Medicaid programs and State-Based Marketplaces to meet the needs of their populations, they have been developing innovative approaches to prepare for the unwinding of ...
Supporting State Efforts to Address Healthcare Challenges

Supporting State Efforts to Address Healthcare Challenges

Reflections on the Governors' Health and Human Services Policy Advisors Institute 2022 In the Fall of 2022 the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) hosted Governors’ Health ...
Webinar on Addressing Wages of the Direct Care Workforce through Medicaid Policies

Webinar on Addressing Wages of the Direct Care Workforce through Medicaid Policies

This webinar, held November 10, 2022, discusses the NGA publication “Addressing Wages of the Direct Care Workforce through Medicaid Policies”. Recruiting and retaining direct care workers, including certified nursing assistants ...
Preparing the Next Generation of the Healthcare Workforce

Preparing the Next Generation of the Healthcare Workforce

The Next Generation of the Healthcare Workforce Fall Convening featured in-depth report outs on outcomes and accomplishments from NGA’s four Learning Collaborative States – California, Colorado, Missouri, and Wyoming. by ...

Public Health

Broadband

Broadband

Access to fast, reliable broadband is critical to households, businesses, and communities in the modern economy. The ongoing COVID-19 public health emergency has underscored the necessity of broadband access for ...
Governors’ Health and Humans Services Policy Advisors Institute 2022

Governors’ Health and Humans Services Policy Advisors Institute 2022

The Governors’ Health and Human Services Policy Advisors Institute provided a valuable space for Governors’ advisors, subject matter experts, and partners to convene and learn from each other. by Myra ...
Modernizing the U.S. public health system

Modernizing the U.S. public health system

Public Health infrastructure is the system that supports the planning, delivery and evaluation of the 10 public health essential services. The COVID-19 pandemic emphasized the importance of a robust public ...
Nutrition for health

State Strategies on Preventing and Managing Type 2 Diabetes: A State Playbook

This paper looks at comprehensive local and state programs that can assist people with diabetes who may have low-incomes, be older or live in underserved communities. (Download) Type 2 diabetes, ...
Governor Murphy Introduces Chair’s Initiative: Strengthening Youth Mental Health Care

Governor Murphy Introduces Chair’s Initiative: Strengthening Youth Mental Health Care

At the closing session of NGA’s Summer Meeting 2022, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy accepted the NGA Chair’s gavel from Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson and underlined the importance of Governors’ ...
NGA 2022 Summer Meeting

NGA 2022 Summer Meeting

The National Governors Association's 2022 Annual Summer Meeting was held was July 13-15, 2022, in Portland, Maine. Governors met to collaborate on bipartisan solutions to leading policy issues including computer ...