State Health and Value Strategies (SHVS), in partnership with Manatt Health, Health Equity Solutions, Georgetown’s Center on Health Insurance Reforms (CHIR), the State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC), Bailit Health, and GMMB, developed this resource page to serve as an accessible “one-stop” source of health equity information for states. This resource is designed to support states seeking to make coverage and essential services available to all of their residents, regardless of where they live, how much money they make, or discrimination they face. SHVS will update this page frequently with new resources as they become available.
The New York State Department of Health filed an amendment to its Medicaid 1115 waiver seeking authority to spend $13.5 billion in Medicaid funds over five years for a demonstration project aimed at addressing health disparities and delivery system problems magnified by COVID-19. The state will conduct two virtual hearings on the waiver amendment. The public comment period is open until May 13.
The Society for Women’s Health Research designed this roadmap to guide community program planners as they engage women and their families in meaningful conversations and initiatives to improve individual and public health through vaccinations.
With authorization of the first COVID-19 vaccine for children ages five and older, most kids in the United States are now eligible to be immunized. Recent experience with other vaccines shows the country is capable of vaccinating kids widely and equitably, but the challenges in vaccinating adults against COVID-19 and experiences with other immunizations in children, like the vaccine against the human papillomavirus (HPV), also demonstrate that success is not inevitable. To meet their COVID-19 vaccination goals to vaccinate kids against COVID-19, states can borrow strategies that have historically proved effective in immunizing kids against diseases such as measles and resulted in dramatic reductions in certain vaccination rate disparities. This issue brief highlights state strategies that have led to high childhood vaccination rates—and dramatic strides toward health equity—and identifies how those strategies could be applied in the context of the current COVID-19 crisis.
This Health Equity Guidebook provides guidance related to providing culturally appropriate community testing and contact tracing services in a manner that is inclusive of elevated-risk individuals and communities.
Even as the Delta variant rages through the U.S., many Americans have not received a COVID-19 vaccine. The reasons are complex, but for Black and Latino(a) communities, a long history of poor access to health care has been a tall barrier. On the first episode of the new season of the Commonwealth Fund’s The Dose podcast, host Shanoor Seervai talks to Rhea Boyd, a pediatrician and public health advocate, about what it takes to dismantle the historic racism that has long prevented people of color from getting the health care they need. Black and Latino(a) health care professionals like Dr. Boyd are answering questions about the COVID-19 vaccine online and in person. If we make it a national priority, she says, we can ensure Black and Latino(a) people get credible information about the vaccines and easy access to them.
To bolster local organizations supporting health equity in communities across Kansas, Governor Laura Kelly announced the “Increase the Reach” Grant Initiative. The program specifically aims to reach groups that have been socially marginalized and those experiencing low vaccination rates, including both racial and ethnic minority populations as well as rural communities, and empower community organizations promoting equitable access to the COVID-19 vaccine for all Kansans. The grants will enable these organizations to expand access to vaccines and increase vaccine uptake among those who are unvaccinated.
Rates of COVID-19 vaccination vary widely, with Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) receiving smaller shares of COVID-19 vaccinations compared with their shares of the total population, despite experiencing disproportionately higher rates of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. These disparities in vaccination rates among BIPOC as compared to white Americans highlight the longstanding inequities and structural racism that underpin the United States health care delivery system and that contributed to disparities in health outcomes before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. This expert perspective shares highlights from a new issue brief, Strategies for States to Drive Equitable Vaccine Distribution and Administration, which outlines the key barriers states face in their efforts to increase vaccination rates among BIPOC and highlights strategies states are pursuing in partnership with community-based organizations (CBOs) to address these challenges.
On Thursday, August 12, State Health and Value Strategies hosted a webinar during which experts from Manatt Health and Health Equity Solutions provided an overview of the strategies states can pursue in partnership with community-based organizations to reduce disparities in COVID-19 vaccine uptake, and in the longer term, to build a more equitable and sustainable public health system. While more than 20 states and the District of Columbia reached the Biden administration’s goal of administering one or more COVID-19 vaccine doses to at least 70 percent of adults by early July, wide variation in vaccination rates persists across communities within these states and among the 30 states still working to reach this goal. This variation in vaccination rates at the community level translates to disparities across racial and ethnic groups, as most states continue to have disparities in vaccination rates between Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) and white populations. States and their community partners are implementing a broad range of distribution and outreach strategies to improve vaccine equity and are looking to build sustainable infrastructure and capacity to advance health equity within state and local public health and health care delivery systems.
This report includes five perspectives of a health equity mindset: why these perspectives are important to advance health equity, ideas for how to put the perspectives into action, and examples of how they were used to shape the CCP project.
A snapshot of the perception of Utah’s community health workers in considering the state’s racial and ethnic minority communities’ attitudes and hesitancy toward the COVID-19 vaccine. Analysis of local data compared with national narratives around vaccine hesitancy may inform strategic approaches to respond to barriers and improve timely vaccine uptake.
The North Dakota COVID Special Populations Strategic Plan will address the concerns found in the data presented at this moment in time and address the specific concerns expressed by North Dakota’s Special Populations related to COVID-19. As a living document, this plan and associated target dates may be modified to reflect community needs.
Longstanding racial and ethnic injustices contribute to disparities in vaccination rates among historically marginalized populations. We are building equity into every aspect of vaccine distribution in order to close the vaccination gap between white populations and Black/African American, Hispanic/Latinx, and American Indian populations in North Carolina.
The Office of Health Equity seeks to acknowledge systemic racism and the social determinants of health to eliminate disparities by addressing and promoting health equity among all people in every community in New Mexico. The Office of Health Equity strives to provide equitable health opportunities by building relationships with communities, establishing collaborations with care providers and forging partnerships with stakeholders to provide quality service in a culturally and linguistically appropriate manner. These measures focus on ensuring all New Mexicans, especially in rural and under-served areas and borderlands, have increased opportunities to be healthy and promote the public health mission of the New Mexico Department of Health.
To assess Mississippians’ COVID-19 Vaccine confidence, the Mississippi Community Engagement Alliance Against COVID-19 Disparities (CEAL) Team and the Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) Office of Preventive Health and Health Equity (OPHHE) disseminated a statewide vaccine confidence survey beginning end of December 2020 and collecting data until March 2021. The survey is intended to be representative of Mississippians, with intentional efforts invested to reach lower income and rural Mississippi populations, as well as the state’s Black, Hispanic (Latino/ Latinx), Asian (including the Vietnamese population of the Gulf Coast), and Native American/Choctaw communities.
This report represents a collaborative effort between the Hawaiʻi State Department of Health and a diverse group of academic and community partners. As the magnitude of the COVID-19 pandemic grew over time, it became clear that public health authorities could not adequately address the threats posed by this disease alone. Partnerships with the Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander COVID-19 Response, Recovery, and Resilience Team and other community-based organizations serving the Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, and Filipino communities as well as the input from the Office of Public Health Studies and Department of Native Hawaiian Health at University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa were instrumental to mounting an effective response. Their perspectives are included through the voices of the authors and contributors to this report who represent these organizations as well as through feedback provided by reviewers.
This document is intended to support local communities in achieving their Health Equity Measure as part of the California’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy and building an equitable recovery. More specifically, counties can use this document to inform Targeted Investment Plans that will be leveraging Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity for Prevention and Control of Emerging Infectious Diseases (Strategy 5: Use Laboratory Data to Enhance Investigation, Response, and Prevention) grant funds throughout implementation. This living document will continue to be updated as the pandemic progresses and as more is learned about what strategies are working on the ground.
The University at Albany published a new report that researches why communities of color in New York have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. The research, carried out in partnership with the New York State Department of Health and other partners, adds to the existing well of knowledge about health disparities in New York by identifying the environmental, socioeconomic and occupational factors that explain why COVID-19 has disproportionately harmed Black and Hispanic New Yorkers and proposes practical intervention strategies to eliminate these disparities and save lives. Additionally, the work suggests important differences exist in the way different minority groups experience the progression of the disease. This project is an important initial step toward filling some of these gaps and identifying interventions that, by necessity, must be informed by and rooted in community experiences and insight.
The rollout of vaccines designed to end the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis has begun in earnest across the United States. Currently, each state is responsible for determining how to allocate, distribute, track, and report its vaccine allotment from the federal government, although the federal government is expected to take on a larger role under a new Biden administration. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Black, Indigenous, and other people of color have been disproportionately impacted by both higher risks of infection and poorer health outcomes, and many are concerned that an inequitable or inefficient distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine may further widen health inequities among these populations. One way to help ensure the equitable administration of COVID-19 vaccine is to track vaccine administration disaggregated for key subpopulations, such as gender, race and ethnicity, and geography (e.g., urban vs. rural). This expert perspective reviews the data states are currently publicly reporting related to vaccine administration and provides an interactive map that explores the extent to which all 50 states are reporting vaccine administration data breakdowns by age, gender, race, ethnicity, provider type, and level of geography. The expert perspective also discusses what current data sources states are using to provide this information and provides an overview of options states can consider to collect information about the administration of COVID-19 vaccine in populations via survey data.
With the passage of the American Rescue Plan (ARP), more people than ever before are eligible for financial help to pay for a health insurance plan. Estimates are that on average, 4 out of 5 customers can now find a health plan for less than $10 a month—a remarkable step to provide more affordable coverage, for more Americans. To promote these significant savings, Marketplaces are launching integrated and innovative outreach campaigns—including tapping into existing public health and COVID-19 vaccination efforts—to reach residents with this important information and get them enrolled. As vaccine distribution is increasingly going local, state marketplaces are tapping into trusted partners like local community centers, faith groups, and small businesses as well as coordinating with state and federal agencies to combine education and outreach to drive enrollment. As Marketplaces look for ways to ensure equitable outreach and enrollment, especially as our nation recovers from COVID-19, this expert perspective highlights a range of communications and outreach strategies to align with vaccine education and distribution.
The KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor is an ongoing research project tracking the public’s attitudes and experiences with COVID-19 vaccinations. Using a combination of surveys and qualitative research, this project tracks the dynamic nature of public opinion as vaccine development and distribution unfold, including vaccine confidence and acceptance, information needs, trusted messengers and messages, as well as the public’s experiences with vaccination.
As of March 2021, the United States is administering more than 3 million COVID-19 vaccines a day.1 From the day vaccines were on the horizon, Congress, governors, and the Biden administration committed to equitably distributing them, pointing to disproportionately high rates of COVID-19-related illness and death among Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC). These disparate outcomes from COVID-19 are linked to longstanding inequities in health care and systemic racism within society.
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted health inequities across the nation and in Wisconsin. COVID-19 has been hard on everyone, but data shows that Wisconsin’s Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19. Inequities are reflected in COVID-19 vaccination rates. Many of the factors that contribute to health disparities may also be barriers that prevent people from getting vaccinated, as the data shows that white populations have higher vaccination rates.
Throughout the pandemic, the nation’s children have suffered in myriad ways during some of the most critical ages for healthy development. Children of color, children with greater existing health care needs and children dealing with the impacts of poverty have been the hardest hit. The National Association of State Medicaid Directors has released a report, Medicaid Forward: Children’s Health, that provides a close look at the realities the country is facing to aid the recovery of its children, as well as the innovations Medicaid programs across the country have made and are continuing to make to help millions of kids. Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Programs, which cover about 2 in 5 American children and nearly half of all births, will be essential in the nation’s efforts to help children and their families recover from these impacts and build additional resilience for the future. NAMD is also hosting a webinar on Thursday, June 17 from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. ET about the Medicaid Forward series and this second report focused on children’s health.
The rollout of vaccines designed to end the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis has begun in earnest across the United States. Currently, each state is responsible for determining how to allocate, distribute, track, and report its vaccine allotment from the federal government, although the federal government is expected to take on a larger role under a new Biden administration. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Black, Indigenous, and other people of color have been disproportionately impacted by both higher risks of infection and poorer health outcomes, and many are concerned that an inequitable or inefficient distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine may further widen health inequities among these populations. One way to help ensure the equitable administration of COVID-19 vaccine is to track vaccine administration disaggregated for key subpopulations, such as gender, race and ethnicity, and geography (e.g., urban vs. rural). This expert perspective reviews the data states are currently publicly reporting related to vaccine administration and provides an interactive map that explores the extent to which all 50 states are reporting vaccine administration data breakdowns by age, gender, race, ethnicity, provider type, and level of geography. The expert perspective also discusses what current data sources states are using to provide this information and provides an overview of options states can consider to collect information about the administration of COVID-19 vaccine in populations via survey data.
The Biden-Harris Administration is announcing a series of actions to expand access to COVID-19 vaccines to the hardest-hit and highest-risk communities across the country.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today announced a plan to invest $2.25 billion over two years to address Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related health disparities and advance health equity among populations that are at high-risk and underserved, including racial and ethnic minority groups and people living in rural areas.
The Biden Administration has set a goal to have 300 million individuals vaccinated across the United States by July 2021 and Governors are at the forefront of this vaccine distribution effort. Adding urgency to this challenge, new and more transmissible COVID-19 viral variants are spreading across the country, increasing pressure on states to quickly vaccinate as many individuals as possible, while ensuring equity and maintaining other mitigation measures to limit viral transmission.
A podcast that examines how American Indian and Native communities are faring during the COVID-19 pandemic.
To provide greater insight into who is receiving the vaccine and whether some groups are facing disparities in vaccination, KFF is collecting and analyzing state-reported data on COVID-19 vaccinations by race/ethnicity. As of March 15, 2021, 44 states were reporting vaccination data by race/ethnicity. This analysis examines how the vaccinations have been distributed by race/ethnicity and the share of the total population vaccinated by race/ethnicity.
During February 12–October 15, 2020, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic resulted in approximately 7,900,000 aggregated reported cases and approximately 216,000 deaths in the United States.* Among COVID-19–associated deaths reported to national case surveillance during February 12–May 18, persons aged ≥65 years and members of racial and ethnic minority groups were disproportionately represented (1). This report describes demographic and geographic trends in COVID-19–associated deaths reported to the National Vital Statistics System† (NVSS) during May 1–August 31, 2020, by 50 states and the District of Columbia.
The plan provides officials with the tools to create, implement, and support a vaccination campaign that works with BIPOC communities to remedy COVID-19 impacts
With the possibility of a COVID-19 vaccine growing closer, increasing attention is focused on how it may be distributed, a responsibility that will largely fall to state, territorial, and local governments. Preventing racial disparities in uptake of a COVID-19 vaccine will be important for helping to mitigate the disproportionate impacts of the virus for people of color and preventing widening racial health disparities going forward. Moreover, reaching high vaccination rates across individuals and communities will be key for achieving broader population immunity through a vaccine. This brief provides an overview of barriers to vaccination that disproportionately affect people of color and discusses how current national recommendations and state vaccine allocation plans address racial equity.
The presidential transition and the incoming Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to addressing the equity issues associated withtheCOVID-19pandemicprovide an opportunity to identify programmatic and policy approaches that can ensure the kind of participation in containment and prevention strategies that will address the disproportionate disparities we see every day.
This paper identifies the services that are essential to an equity-centric approach totheCOVID-19pandemic, as well as the infrastructure and workforce needed to ensure these services are available and have an equity focus.It reviews a set of administrative and legislative steps that the new presidential administration can take to strengthen the immediate response to the pandemic and address the long-term health and social needs the pandemic has exacerbated. Finally, it offers a strategy for “building back better” in the long term.
North Carolina’s vaccine tracking dashboard, which includes statewide demographic data on people who have received either the first or second dose of the vaccine by race, ethnicity, gender, and age group.
A national, ongoing survey explores deep-rooted views of those with low and middle incomes, with a focus on people of color, on health, equity and race.
Nationwide, the U.S. vaccination rollout has been plagued by data gaps, which threaten to make it harder to hold leaders accountable for their goals, obfuscate if and when we reach the long-sought goal of herd immunity, and erode public confidence in the entire vaccination process.
A new Health Affairs blog post authored by Dr. Nathan Chomilo, Medical Director for the State of Minnesota’s Medicaid program and a practicing pediatrician and an internal medicine hospitalist with Park Nicollet Health Services/HealthPartners, highlights how racial equity can be built into research and policy and why this is important step as states and policymakers seek to dismantle structure racism in the health care system. Dr. Chomilo notes several examples of how stakeholders can assess research and policy for racial equity at the start. These examples include requiring a racial equity assessment at the start of the development of research proposals aimed at answering policy questions to help ensure investigators have, at the very least, stopped to ask how their work may or may not contribute to structural racism or advance racial justice and improving and standardizing ways to collect race, ethnicity, and language demographic data for not only public payers such as Medicare and Medicaid but all health insurers, social safety-net programs, and education systems.
The COVID crisis is revealing the extent of the disparities facing black, indigenous, and people of color. People of color are infected by COVID and dying of COVID at rates higher than their percentage of the population. Black, Hispanic, and American Indian and Alaska Native people are also at higher risk of being hospitalized with COVID. Medicaid has an opportunity and a responsibility to lead efforts to advance health equity by virtue of the population it serves and its unique leverage point within states as a payer. Medicaid Directors at NAMD’s Fall 2020 meeting illustrated how they are taking steps to address equity both internally, among their staff, and externally, among the members they serve.
This infographic explores the history of racial bias and discrimination in health care and during the pandemic, and highlights strategies to address systemic racism and improve health outcomes.
California’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy includes a health equity metric which will be used (along with other metrics) to determine a county’s tier. The purpose of this metric is to ensure California reopens its economy safely by reducing disease transmission in all communities. This document outlines the equity metric and requirements which is effective October 6, 2020.
A collection of essays from various authors which is JHPPL’s first effort to make sense of the pandemic as a political, social, and comparative phenomenon that is likely to redefine public health, health policy,and health care politics for years to come.
With the rapid expansion of telemedicine in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring that remote care reaches diverse, low-income patients and promotes health equity, rather than exacerbating health disparities, is critical. Through a partnership between the Center for Care Innovations, UCSF’s Center for Vulnerable Populations (CVP), and the Commonwealth Fund, we have developed this toolkit to provide background information as well as concrete guidance relevant to safety-net healthcare systems looking to initiate, expand, or improve their telemedicine programs.
A new open enrollment landscape created by the continued health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, a national movement calling for racial justice, and the concurrent timing of a presidential election year is raising new challenges for states as they plan outreach and enrollment campaigns. Marketplaces are reimagining their campaign strategies to meet this moment, with plans to operationalize virtual activities, communicate with new and existing audiences, and reflect changing consumer behaviors in their outreach tactics. This expert perspective highlights strategies from SHVS’ 2-part webinar series on preparing for OEP 2021 and features several strategies states can pursue to help ensure a successful open enrollment period this year.
In light of recent postal delays and housing displacements caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and related economic crisis, and a wave of natural disasters across the country, state Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) agencies face new challenges communicating with their enrollees about their health coverage. Acting now to mitigate these challenges is essential as states are preparing for the end of the public health emergency (PHE) and “catching up” on coverage renewals for a large portion of their enrollees. This expert perspective reviews strategies that state Medicaid and CHIP agencies may consider to help mitigate coverage losses.
This expert perspective provides a survey of actions that state and local governments have taken to intentionally incorporate equity into their recovery and reopening policies.
Blog post that explores health inequities tied to lack of access to energy, water and broadband
During this COCA Call, Presenters of this webinar discussed the intersection of telehealth and health equity and implications for health services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Presenters identified long-standing systemic health and social inequities that contribute to COVID-19 health disparities, while highlighting opportunities and limitations of telehealth implementation as an actionable solution.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues across the United States, states, payers, and providers are looking for ways to expand access to telehealth services. Telehealth is an essential tool in ensuring patients are able to access the healthcare services they need in as safe a manner as possible. In order to provide our clients with quick and actionable guidance on the evolving telehealth landscape, Manatt Health has developed a federal and comprehensive 50-state tracker for policy, regulatory and legal changes related to telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic.
CDC released a new study examining the disproportionate impacts of COVID-19 on American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN) in 23 states between January 31 and July 3. The report found:
• The cumulative incidence of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases among AI/AN was 3.5 times that of non-Hispanic whites
• Compared to whites, a higher percentage of cases among AI/AN individuals were in people under 18 years of age (12.9 percent AI/AN; 4.3 percent white)
• A smaller percentage of cases were among AI/AN individuals who are 65 years or older (12.6 percent AI/AN; 28.6 percent white)
CDC’s COVID-19 Response Health Equity Strategy broadly seeks to improve the health outcomes of populations disproportionately affected by focusing on four priority areas.
On Wednesday, July 22, State Health and Value Strategies hosted part II of the Preparing for OEP 2021 webinar series that provided a deep dive into effective strategies to consider as states design their outreach and education campaigns for OEP 2021 in a shifting health care environment. Presenters from GMMB explored how the impacts of COVID-19 should inform the marketplace’s tactical campaign approaches for virtual outreach and partnership engagement, digital and social platform usage, and paid advertising and earned media. Participants also heard insights from several state officials from state-based marketplaces along the way. Topics for discussion included coordinating with state agencies, engaging micro-influencers, leveraging social media live streams, hosting virtual enrollment events, developing advertising buys, and considering new earned media hooks. This webinar included a question and answer session during which webinar participants can pose their questions to the experts on the line.
This post will present a framework for understanding health disparities during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as provide short-term and long-term solutions to reduce these disparities.
This expert perspective highlights examples employed by DC Health Link, the Oregon Health Authority, and beWellnm and the community-centered outreach they are using to actively enroll and connect consumers to care. The expert perspective also includes best practices surfaced for marketplaces and agencies to adapt their COVID-19 communications and outreach—and beyond—to ensure those with inequitable access to health coverage are prioritized and supported.
HHS’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued guidance to recipients of federal financial assistance on applicable federal civil rights laws and regulations that prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin in HHS-funded programs during COVID-19. In its guidance, OCR identified a range of activities and policies that recipients of federal financial assistance, including state and local agencies, hospitals, and other health care providers, should implement to ensure compliance with Title VI during the public health emergency.
The Committee on Ways and Means Majority at the US House of Representatives authored a report on the stark barriers that communities of color and rural communities face to accessing equitable health care.
Policy makers can help ameliorate disparities by mandating standardized case and fatality reporting requirements and directing public health agencies to investigate why particular populations, including Asian Americans, face a seemingly heightened risk of death from COVID-19.
This memo provides a summary of policy approaches to address the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on communities of color.
Health system leaders and policy makers should take the lead in addressing alarming disparities in COVID-19 deaths.
Considering both the public health crisis and future patient needs, Families USA has assembled state policy recommendations around three themes: 1) improving telehealth financing and implementation models to increase reach; 2) removing provider barriers to increase access to telehealth; and, 3) bridging the digital divide to improve patient access to telehealth services.
The Health Opportunity and Equity (HOPE) Initiative, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, provides an interactive data tool to help the nation and states to move beyond measuring disparities to spur action toward health equity.
This expert perspective provides an update on states’ reporting of health equity data and a summary of CARES Act reporting requirements.
The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced new challenges for Navigators. To learn more about their experience, and how they are helping consumers manage often unexpected transitions in coverage, this blog post highlights conversations with six navigators across five states using the FFM to hear how they were faring.
On Friday, June 12 at 12:00 p.m. ET, State Health & Value Strategies hosted a webinar during which experts from Manatt Health and Georgetown reviewed the current telehealth policy landscape and considerations for states as they design their post-apex telehealth policies. This webinar included a question and answer session during which webinar participants posed their questions to the experts on the line.
Targeted testing and contact tracing represent a more ethical approach to lifting pandemic restrictions and opening up the economy given limited test supplies.
In April 2020, Louisiana announced the formation of a COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force. In June 2020, the task force provided recommendations relative to health inequities which are affecting communities that are most impacted by the coronavirus.
This article examines why it is important to go further and examine the root cause of racial disparities in underlying health conditions and COVID-19 outcomes.
Based on recommendations of the Health Disparity Task Force, Governor Tom Wolf announced the state is now collecting sexual orientation and gender identity data as part of the state’s COVID-19 data collection effort.
The Ohio Department of Health created a new position that will build on existing efforts to respond to health inequity by working directly with local communities on their specific long-term health needs and Ohio’s response to COVID-19.
Governor Mike DeWine formed the COVID-19 Minority Health Strike Force on April 20, 2020, in response to the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on minorities in Ohio. The strike force contracted with the Health Policy Institute of Ohio (HPIO) to develop this “COVID-19 Ohio Minority Health Strike Force Blueprint.”
The state of New York is expanding access to testing for communities of color and low-income neighborhoods by establishing an initial 24 testing sites at churches in predominantly minority communities in downstate New York.
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) announced $10 million in funding for health care providers serving the state’s most underserved populations, including rural health clinics, tribal health clinics, community health centers, and free and low cost clinics.
The Virginia Department of Health and the Health Equity Task Force partnered with a local media outlet to provide information about the next phases of the recovery process and its implications for health equity.
The Virginia Department of Health and the Health Equity Task Force partnered with a local media outlet to provide information about the next phases of the recovery process and its implications for health equity.
The Governor of New Jersey signed legislation, S2357, requiring hospitals to report demographic data to the Department of Health, including age, ethnicity, gender, and race of individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19, who have died from COVID-19, and who have tried to get testing but have been turned away.
This brief describes health equity principles for states as they design and implement their responses.
The task force will act in an advisory capacity to the Governor and study the causes of racial disparities in the impact of COVID-19 and recommend actions to immediately address such disparities and the historical and systemic inequities that underlie them.
Medicaid agencies can leverage existing and new authorities, enabled through recent COVID-19 federal regulatory flexibilities, to develop a broad plan for addressing disparities in the near-and long-term.
Webinar on racial inequities of COVID-19 and impact on communities of color.
Recommendations developed by the Connecticut Health Foundation aimed at ensuring the state’s COVID-19 response reaches those who are most at risk.
COVID-19 has urgently demonstrated that everyone needs to live in safe and healthy communities. The people most affected by COVID-19 are communities of color, people with low income, immigrants, and other underserved groups. These groups are most vulnerable in part because of existing laws and policies that affect the fundamental drivers of health inequities. Communities and local governments that take steps to ensure health, safety, housing, food, and economic stability for all of their residents will be helping to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and laying the groundwork for health equity and prosperity for future generations. To help communities and local governments strengthen their response to COVID-19 and advance health equity, ChangeLab Solutions is publishing a blog series about policies that governments can enact right away.
This resource highlights solutions to ensure more equitable enforcement of public health laws.
This expert perspective looks in more depth at which states are regularly reporting data that helps shed light on the health equity issues of this crisis. Specifically, the post includes interactive maps that explore the extent to which all 50 states and the District of Columbia are reporting (as of May 28) data breakdowns by age, gender, race, ethnicity, and health care workers for both cases of and deaths from COVID-19.
This comprehensive report begins by describing the link between social injustice and COVID-19 outcomes at the local level, including original analysis of economic and disease data for 11 counties with high Black and Latino populations that are among the hardest-hit counties in the United States. The second section of this report provides an action guide for health equity advocates, identifying short-term policy options that respond to the current pandemic and longer-term policy.
This Health Affairs blog post highlights states’ policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as their proactive approaches to addressing a wide range of health concerns.
Opinion piece written by Dr. Richard Besser, President and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and former acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
On Thursday, May 7, State Health and Value Strategies hosted a webinar that reported on how states are tracking the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on vulnerable populations and provided a framework for states to examine their COVID-19 response efforts to yield better outcomes for such populations. As the COVID-19 crisis evolves, it has become increasingly clear that vulnerable populations are disproportionately impacted. Unsurprisingly, these disparately affected groups are the same ones that have long experienced stark health disparities, such as communities of color, low income populations, and those that reside in congregate living facilities (nursing homes, jails, shelters, etc.). During the webinar, technical experts from Health Equity Solutions and SHADAC shared findings from recent SHVS publications.
Early evidence suggests there are health disparities based on race, gender, and geography in both the contraction of COVID-19 and deaths related to the virus. People of color and those who live in urban centers are faring worse from this pandemic. These higher rates of illness and death are rooted in longstanding, structural inequities in our country. While these inequities cannot be fixed overnight, states can begin to foster a more equitable and just COVID-19 response, relief, and recovery effort by employing a few key guidelines. This expert perspective poses a series of questions states can use to inform immediate actions to strengthen their initial responses and lay the foundation for broader reforms to advance health equity.
A follow-up story on a webinar, Pursuing Data on COVID-19: The Health Inequity Multiplier
Telehealth increases convenience for both the doctor and patient and decreases everyone’s risk of exposure to COVID-19. But telehealth also has limitations, the most obvious of which are that it does not allow for physical exams or lab tests. Less obvious though, is the potential of telehealth to exacerbate health disparities.
Public conversations surrounding COVID-19 health outcomes in Black and Latino communities must address the role of structural racism, including how community trauma, neighborhood disinvestment, and environmental toxins can cause or further exacerbate those conditions, and how these, in turn, are driven by inequities in political power and economic opportunities. This webinar, co-hosted by Families USA and the National Urban League, highlights findings from “The Fierce Urgency of Now: Federal and State Policy Recommendations to Address Health Inequities in the Era of COVID-19”, and discusses how COVID-19 reveals legacies of disinvestment and inequities in communities of color, and how you can take action to organize for justice at the state and federal level.
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to light some limitations in our nation’s capacity to share and use health information.
This expert perspective reviews the key indicators currently being tracked by states via their COVID-19 dashboards and also provides an overview of “best practices” states can consider when developing or modifying these same COVID-19 dashboards.
An article detailing how community health centers in Connecticut are building up their telemedicine capabilities.