State Medicaid programs are working to advance health equity. Examples of their state approaches include:
- Improving the collection and reporting of race and ethnicity data to ensure completeness and accuracy;
- Establishing state leadership and infrastructure within the state Medicaid agency to prioritize a health equity agenda;
- Improving beneficiary engagement in the policymaking process;
- Examining enrollment, redetermination, and renewal processes to identify opportunities to reduce systemic barriers that affect beneficiaries of color from gaining and keeping coverage;
- Using delivery system levers to address disparities in care and outcomes, such as embedding health equity requirements in managed care contracts, leveraging payment methodologies, and setting priorities for equity in quality initiatives; and
- Developing a diverse and culturally competent workforce.
MACPAC has published several publications related to these topics, including:
- Medicaid Race and Ethnicity Data Collection and Reporting: Recommendations for Improvement
- Medicaid Demographic Data Collection
- Engaging Beneficiaries through Medical Care Advisory Committees to Inform Medicaid Policymaking
- Medicaid’s Role in Advancing Health Equity
- Access in Brief: Behavioral Health and Beneficiary Satisfaction by Race and Ethnicity
- Availability of Race and Ethnicity Data for Medicaid Beneficiaries
- Access in Brief: Experiences of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Medicaid Beneficiaries with Accessing Medical Care and Behavioral Health Care