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Support our work
We are pleased to have foundation grant support, however, individual donations are essential to our work as we seek to broaden our base of support and reach our fund-raising goals. 

Your tax-deductible contribution will help us to:

• Continue to study the adequacy and cost of health insurance and present the findings to interested stakeholders;
• Provide direct technical assistance to groups in states where health reform discussions are taking place;
• Increase our staff and our capacity to assist more families with crushing medical debt;
• Sponsor trainings for more than 120 organizational and community leaders in six new locations; and
• Develop new strategies to address the issue of ever-spiraling out-of-pocket medical expenses.

Please consider joining us in our quest to improve health care policy throughout the nation. On behalf of all those whose lives are improved by our work, our heartfelt thanks.

Ways to donate:

• Print our donation form and mail it in along with your check, or
• Donate securely online by clicking on the "Donate Now" button below:
  Please note that all donations are fully tax deductible to the amount allowed by law.

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Staff
Cathy Dunham, President
Catherine M. Dunham, Ed.D. is President of The Access Project and was its founder in 1998. She served as the Special Advisor to the President of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation from 1991 to 1998. She was also national program director of the Community Health Leadership Program supported by the Johnson Foundation from 1991 to 2007. She was the Executive Director of the National Center on Family Homelessness during 2007. From 1984-1991 she was the chief health and human services policy advisor to Governor Michael S. Dukakis of Massachusetts . Prior to that, Dr. Dunham was the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Council of Human Service Providers. She received her Masters in Education and her Doctorate in Social Analysis in Education from Clark University , Worcester , Massachusetts. She has faculty appointments at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, and Brandeis University.

Mark Rukavina, Executive Director
Mark is responsible for overall management and coordination of the group’s efforts to provide local initiatives with research and policy assistance. This assistance is designed to enhance local groups’ policy advocacy campaigns to expand or improve access to health care for uninsured and other vulnerable populations. Mark was responsible for overseeing TAP’s initial research on medical debt, helping to expose a problem that had been largely invisible due to a lack of data. He worked closely with several national foundations and federal agencies encouraging them to initiate research into the medical debt issue. He is a nationally recognized expert on issues related to health access and medical debt, especially as they pertain to low and moderate income Americans. Over the past 20 years, he has worked to reform the US health care system as a program administrator, policy advocate, researcher, and community organizer. Mark has testified before congressional and state legislative committees and has served on several national advisory committees working to improve access to health insurance and health care services. Mark received a Masters in Business Administration from Babson College in Wellesley, MA and is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. 

Carol Pryor, Policy Director
As Policy Director, Carol is responsible for monitoring health policy developments and developing briefs and reports that highlight barriers to health care for vulnerable populations. Carol has authored numerous reports published by The Access Project, The Commonwealth Fund, the Kaiser Family Foundation, and State Coverage Initiatives. These reports have focused on the prevalence and consequences of medical debt, the financial burden of healthcare costs on individuals and families, hospital billing and collections practices, and the problem of underinsurance. The findings have been used to advocate for improved access to health care at local, state, and national levels. Her report on federal regulations affecting hospital billing and collections practices was instrumental in compelling hospitals to change their discounting and charity care practices toward the uninsured. Carol has over 25 years of publications experience, and 12 years of experience in health policy. She has a B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley and Masters Degrees in Public Health and Education from Boston University.