Community Programs for Affordable Health Care.

Communities throughout the nation increasingly face the critical problem of rising health care costs, which may eventually threaten access to care for segments of the population and the stability of essential health care institutions. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, with the co-sponsorship of the American Hospital Association and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, created Community Programs for Affordable Health Care to provide support to selected communities that recognize the problem and are able to mobilize community leadership to seek solutions. These communities will develop and implement demonstration programs designed to reduce significantly the rate of increase in their communities' health care expenditures while protecting access to services.