Community health workers in the wake of health care reform

As the United States transforms its health system, many policymakers are turning to community health workers to tackle some of the most challenging aspects of health improvement, such as facilitating care coordination, enhancing access to community-based services, mitigating the impacts of the social determinants of health, addressing health disparities, and containing costs. This brief captures key themes that emerged during an October 2015 meeting of state and federal leaders convened by the National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP) with the support of The Commonwealth Fund to identify areas in which federal and state policy can align around the use of CHWs in transforming health systems to achieve better care, lower costs, and improved population health.