By: Lindsay Marcal, Director, Membership

The National Health Council (NHC) brings diverse organizations together to forge consensus, drive patient-centered health policy, and provide a united voice for the more than 160 million people with chronic diseases and disabilities and their family caregivers. With the continued support of NHC members, we envision a society in which all people have access to quality, affordable health care that respects personal goals and aspirations to promote their best possible health outcomes.

The NHC offers a variety of benefits that provide opportunities for our members to engage with NHC staff experts and other members. Highlighted below are some of those key member benefits.

Members can expand their networks within the broader health community through participation in our policy action team, affinity groups, conferences, and ad-hoc briefings.

We encourage participation in our five annual marquee events:

• Health Leadership Conference* (February)
• Science of Patient Engagement Symposium (May)
• Washington Representatives Summer Meeting (June)
• Washington Representatives Retreat* (November)
• Annual Membership Meeting and Luncheon (December)

*Health Leadership Conference and Washington Representatives Retreat are free for member nonprofit organizations and dependent on sponsorship for industry members.

The NHC hosts monthly Government Relations Action Team meetings currently engaging on policy issues such as AI, patient engagement, health care reform, health care costs, value assessment, and telehealth. Equity is an essential part of the NHC’s policy activities and supported by the commitment of our members.

NHC Affinity Groups bring together staff from NHC member organizations to discuss cross-cutting issues common to their area of work. We have networking affinity groups for:

• Chief Executive Officers
• Chief Financial Officers
• Chief Scientific/Medical/Research Officers
• Communications Professionals
• Event Professionals
• Health Equity Professionals
• Artificial Intelligence (AI)

In addition, the NHC hosts ad-hoc meetings, virtual events, and briefings on relevant/timely topics.

One of our newest offerings for members is NHC Connect, an online community where members can access critical information to drive impact and directly collaborate with each other. NHC Connect will also provide a forum to further discussions taking place at events.

Membership in the NHC allows organizations to enhance their public profile and outreach by:

• Submitting content for the NHC’s weekly member newsletter, NHC Insider
• Highlighting initiatives via a guest post on the NHC Putting Patients First blog
• Promoting job openings on the NHC Job Bank

The NHC also offers opportunities for members to expand their knowledge on current issues facing the nonprofit sector, such as changes in charity rating systems, innovative fundraising techniques, relationships with the for-profit sector, and impacts of recent tax reform.

The NHC is a CAE Approved Provider for the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE). Many NHC programs meet the conditions for fulfilling the professional development requirements to earn or maintain the CAE credential.

We invite our members to consider reserving the NHC office’s conference rooms and office spaces at 1730 M St NW, Suite 650 in Washington, DC when you travel to or host activities in the DC metropolitan area. The NHC is also pleased to offer its members the opportunity to take advantage of NHC corporate hotel rates at six nearby hotels in Washington, DC.

The NHC invites all current members to renew their membership for 2025 to continue our partnership. The NHC achieved a host of meaningful accomplishments in the past year with the support of our membership, and we look forward to your continued participation in 2025.

We look to our membership for additional ideas on ways we can expand our benefits offerings and for ideas for future affinity group discussion topics. If you have input that can broaden our portfolio or want more information on existing member benefits and opportunities, please contact the NHC Membership Team at membership@nhcouncil.org. We are also happy to help connect additional members of your staff to your membership.