CHF 2023 Wrapped!

CHF 2023 Wrapped!

Written by Grace Kranstover, Coalition for Health Funding

On Tuesday, November 28, CHF members and staff gathered for the annual in-person member meeting. During this time, members had a chance to catch up with one another over coffee and bagels, hear from CHF leaders on the status of the Coalition, and share their ideas for new CHF activities to host in 2024.

Members also had the opportunity to cast their votes for several new and returning Board members for the 2024 year. We are pleased to share the following results from our Board of Directors elections:

  • Allen Segal, American Society for Microbiology, President-elect

  • Lisa Cox, Infectious Diseases Society of America, first full term

  • Peter Kyriacopolous, Association of Public Health Laboratories, second full term

  • John Laughner, American Heart Association, first full term

  • Emily McCloskey Schreiber, NASTAD, second full term

CHF leaders also reflected on all the work we have done this year. See below for a comprehensive recap of our shared accomplishments in 2023! Your continued support and participation will ensure that 2024 is even better.

CHF 2023 Wrapped

Congressional and Administration Meetings

A major CHF member benefit is the access we provide to Congressional staff and federal agencies. The Coalition scheduled and held multiple meetings this year with several important stakeholder groups. These meetings included:

  • A member-wide virtual meeting with House Majority and Minority Appropriations Committee staff in February to discuss crucial health funding priorities for FY24.

  • A member-wide virtual meeting with the public health team at OMB.

  • Two meetings with House Appropriations Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro to discuss public health funding challenges. 

  • A member-wide virtual meeting with HRSA Administrator Carole Johnson.

  • A CHF Board-level meeting with SAMHSA leaders to discuss ways CHF might be able to help highlight their work and advocate on their behalf.

  • Various targeted meetings to showcase the importance of sustained investments in public health and the need to avoid a government shutdown.

  • A meeting with House Appropriations Committee minority staff to ask questions about the current funding landscape, and how the Fiscal Responsibility Act would impact FY24 funding.

CHF Member Events

Member events allow CHF members and affiliates exclusive access to educational programming, networking opportunities, and advocacy initiatives. This year, CHF held several events covering a range of topics. These events included:

  • Ten monthly CHF Check Ins, which allow members to share and discuss public health advocacy and health care funding updates, and further connect with the Coalition and each other. These chats saw an average of 50 participants per call.

  • Two in-person public health focused Congressional briefings supporting the CDC in partnership with the CDC Foundation, including one featuring new CDC Director Mandy Cohen, Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), and 25 Congressional staff.

  • Two educational Budget Bootcamp events focused on the appropriations process.

  • An in-person happy hour in August to provide members with an opportunity to network. 

  • A virtual training briefing focused on best practices for training a Congressional witness.

  • A series of mini-Hill Days focused on specific agencies. These agencies included CDC for a total of 16 meetings, HRSA for a total of nine meetings, and SAMHSA for a total of eight meetings. 

  • Our annual Hill Day in September that focused on urging lawmakers to avoid a government shutdown and to provide more opportunities for members to advocate on important health funding issues. CHF members met with a total of 24 offices and included another happy hour for members.

Produced Materials

Letters and Statements

As a coalition of over 80 organizations that represents more than 100 million patients and consumers, health providers, professionals, and researchers, CHF has a powerful voice to advocate for public health. This year, CHF published 10 statements 2023. These include:

  • Statements on the proposed funding levels in the House and Senate Labor-HHS bills.

  • Several statements on the House majority debt ceiling proposal.

  • Two statements supporting NDD United’s efforts.

  • A statement on the President’s Budget for FY24.

CHF also produced and hand distributed 81 personalized “Welcome to the Hill” letters to new members in Congress within the first month of the new session.

Toolkits and Resources

CHF is committed to providing our members with the resources they need to advocate effectively on Capitol Hill. This year, CHF produced a record number of health funding focused resources, with 12 new educational and communications focused toolkits and material including:

  • Updated funding charts for FY23 and FY24.

  • Hill Day materials, including a one-pager on the harmful nature effects of a government shutdown, a social media toolkit, and Hill Day talking points.

  • Interactive historical agency funding charts on CHF’s website for all major LHHS agencies complete with comparative inflation lines.

  • An appropriations process animated video.

Blogs

CHF blogs provide members with an opportunity to highlight their funding interests and educate CHF’s larger audience. This year CHF has published nine blogs authored by CHF staff and members on multiple areas of focus. These blogs covered a wide range of topics, including:

  • New CHF resources for increased Coalition advocacy

  • Prevention and control of chronic diseases

  • The reunification of NDD United in the face of deep cuts

  • Rising substance-related deaths and suicides in the nation

  • Two blogs on the CDC Public Health Academy events

  • Chronic underfunding for public health

  • How CHF’s September Hill Day focused on avoiding a government shutdown

Member Update

The Member Update has been cited by our membership as the most useful resource provided by CHF, and we have continued to produce these daily newsletters with a focus on quality, quantity, and memes. Over 190 Public Health Happenings and Member Updates were sent out this year. Some key statistics on Member Update engagement are:

  • 90% of member organizations consistently open and read CHF’s daily Member Updates.

  • Member updates saw a 42% open rate overall, an increase from last year’s 40% open rate.

Visibility and engagement

Twitter Engagement

CHF has increased our external communications, including increasing our Twitter and LinkedIn use. Some highlighted Twitter Metrics are:

  • An overall increase in Twitter followers.

  • An average of 1,740 impressions per tweet in 2023.

Website Engagement

Aside from Twitter, CHF’s website continues to see significant increases in web traffic. This is in large part due to added resources and increased blog posts. Some key metrics include:

  • A 23% increase in unique visitors to the website, totaling over 3,200 unique visitors. 

  • A 13% increase in page views in the last year.

  • A 20% increase in overall visits to the website.

 Speaking Engagement

  • CHF’s Executive Director Erin Morton moderated a panel for Trust for America’s Health focused on the chronic underinvestment in public health in the United States.

  • Deputy Director Jonathan Daniels gave presentations on behalf of CHF for the American Dental Education Association, the Arthritis Foundation, and the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Alliance.

  • Senior Policy Associate Grace Kranstover spoke to advocates during a Muscular Dystrophy Association webinar to discuss how a shutdown could affect entitlement benefits.

Abigail Pepper