Alliance for Health Reform
This non-profit organization provides non-partisan health policy information to journalists and lawmakers. The group's board of directors is chaired by U.S. Sen. John D. Rockefeller (D-W.V.) and U.S. Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.).

American Academy of Pediatrics
The mission of the American Academy of Pediatrics is to attain optimal physical, mental and social health and well-being for all infants, children, adolescents and young adults.

American Hospital Association
The AHA is the national organization representing hospitals and health care networks.

American Medical Association
The AMA is a national professional organization representing doctors.

"America's Health Rankings"
The United Health Foundation's 2005 rankings of healthiest -- and least healthy -- states. Minnesota and Vermont topped the list, while Louisiana and Mississippi finished 49th and 50th, respectively.

Association of State and Territorial Health Officials
The ASTHO Web site provides useful information on public health policy in the states and includes links to all 50 states' public health departments.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
CMS is the federal agency that administers Medicare, the federal health insurance program for those 65 years and older and Medicaid, a joint state-federal program that provides health coverage for the nation's poor and disabled.

Center for Studying Health System Change
This Washington, D.C.-based think tank is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and provides information on insurance-related issues.

Children's Defense Fund
CDF is a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group that conducts research, public education campaigns and promotes public policies relating to child health and welfare.

The Council of State Governments - Health Policy
Based in Lexington, Ky., the health policy division of CSG tracks health issues across all 50 states.

Family Research Council
FRC works to promote public policies that champion marriage and family as the foundation of society. FRC is a pro-life organization that also advocates abstinence-based sex education.

Families USA
Families USA is a national, non-profit organization which advocates for high-quality, affordable health and long-term care for all Americans.

Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families
Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families focuses on finding ways to improve access to, and quality of, health care for children and families, especially for the poor and working class.

Guttmacher State Center
Guttmacher State Center is a centralized clearinghouse for state-level research and policy information on reproductive health issues, searchable by state or by subject.

Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured
KCMU is a valuable resource for statistics and analysis on Medicaid, the state-federal program that provides health insurance for the low-income and disabled. In addition, Kaiser also provides a comprehensive database of state health facts online.

NAMI
NAMI, The Nation's Voice on Mental Illnes, is a national non-profit that advocates for equitable treatment of and services for the mentally ill.

NARAL Pro-Choice America
NARAL is a national pro-choice advocacy group that works to protect women's abortion rights and inrease womens' access to reproductiove health information.

National Academy for State Health Policy
NASHP is a non-partisan, non-profit think tank based in Portland, Maine that provides policy analysis and health information, particularly focusing on children's health insurance (CHIP), Medicaid, medical errors and managed care.

National Association of Boards of Pharmacy
NABP is a national professional association representing the state boards of pharmacy in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

National Conference of State Legislatures - Health Care
This Web page provides links to NCSL health policy resources and information.

National Governors Association, Center for Best Practices - Health Care
The Center is the research arm of the NGA. Its "Health and the States" Web page links to analysis of a variety of current issues and brief overviews of recent health news.

National Mental Health Association
The National Mental Health Association is a national nonprofit advocacy organization that addresses all aspects of mental health and mental illness.

Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America
PhRMA is the voice of the pharmaceutical industry and the organization that's taking a lead role in challenging some state prescription drug programs. PhRMA recently launched a new Web site - www.innovation.org - that includes a 'viewpoints' section that outlines the organization's take on a number of controversial topics.

Rural Assitance Center
Started in 2002, RAC serves as an "information portal" for rural communities and others to help them provide quality health and human services to rural residents. RAC works with states' offices of rural health and workforce agencies.

Rutgers Center for State Health Policy
Funded by a five-year grant from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Rutgers Center for State Health Policy, focuses on research and analysis of state-level health care policies.

State Coverage Initiatives
State Coverage Initiatives (SCI) is an initiative of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation that works with states to plan, execute, and maintain health insurance expansions, and improve the availability and affordability of health care coverage.

The State of Kids' Coverage
A study by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation of the number of children who have health insurance. The report concludes that the number of children without coverage is decreasing, and that S-CHIP is largely responsible for that drop. The study includes state-by-state figures.

Statescape's BillFinder
BillFinder helps users find any bill eligible for consideration in the current calendar year using either keywords and phrases or bill numbers.

statehealthfacts.org
This online resource from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation includes state-by-state data on health topics including insurance coverage, Medicaid, SCHIP, HIV/AIDS and minority and women's health.

Tobacco settlement funds and smoking cessation
A coalition of health care groups, led by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, concludes that only three states are devoting adequate money from the 1998 tobacco settlement toward efforts to keep children from smoking. The report includes assessments of each state.

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The Atlanta-based CDC provides information from the federal government relating to public health and disease management. The CDC closely monitors disease outbreaks across the states.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
The HHS Web site provides news and information from the federal cabinet agency on health and social services.