NationalHealthCouncil.org
National Health Council
The National Health Council (NHC) is a nonprofit association of health organizations. The NHC promotes the health of all people by advancing the voluntary health movement.
Description
Excerpted from the website:
- Since its founding in 1920, the National Health Council has established itself as a dynamic forum for policy development - the place where all segments of the health care community meet for reasoned discussion and persuasive advocacy.
Address
- 1730 M St, NW Ste 500
- Washington DC 20036 US
Contact
- National Health Council
- www.nationalhealthcouncil.org
- +1 202-785-3910
Additional Information
NHC members are national health-related organizations, including leading patient advocacy groups such as the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, American Diabetes Association and the Alzheimer's Association.
Other members include professional and membership associations, nonprofit organizations with an interest in health, and major pharmaceutical, medical device, and biotechnology companies. Pharmaceutical company members include Pfizer, Wyeth, GlaxoSmithKline and many others. The organization represents the more than 100 million people with chronic diseases. According to the Associated Press ("The Influence Game," Aug. 3, 2009) the NHC is primarily funded by the large pharmaceutical companies.
Founded in the 1920s, the organization is headquartered in Washington, DC. Its activities include strengthening the work of patient advocacy organizations, developing public awareness and advocacy programs.
Among the federal and private initiatives it is involved in, the NHC is represented on the National Advisory Council for Healthcare Research and Quality and to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services on priorities for a national health services research agenda.
Latest Activities
In December 2008, the National Health Council (NHC) and other organizations worked to set the selection criteria for the Obama Administration’s Food and Drug Administration commissioner.
The NHC is playing a key role in lobbying to overhaul US health care legislation. For instance, as the Associated Press reported, the NHC sent a July 2009 letter to members of Congress urging them to protect the pharmaceutical companies against early competition from low-priced generic drug makers. The letter said that the NHC represents “the more than 133 million Americans living with chronic diseases and disabilities and their family caregivers.” However, what the letter did not say is that the NHC is mostly funded by the major pharmaceutical companies. Of the NHC’s $2.3 million budget in 2007, nearly $1.2 million came from the largest pharmaceutical industry trade group and leading pharmaceutical companies including Pfizer, Wyeth and Eli Lilly. NHC is lobbying for a 12-year waiting period for brand name drugs to be protected from generics, the White House has proposed a 7-year waiting period, and the nonprofit Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports magazine, has proposed a 5-year waiting period ("The Influence Game, Biotech Drug Lobbying War," Associated Press, Aug 3, 2009)
External Links
- Official website
- NHC Membership Directory
- NHC Board of Directors
- Alexa: NationalHealthCouncil.org
- WHOIS for NationalHealthCouncil.org
