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 Oregon Health Authority published a report on COVID-19 race, ethnicity, language and disability (REALD) data that highlights the inequitable impact of the disease on specific racial and ethnic groups, and challenges faced by those with language, disability and health access barriers. In 2020, the Oregon Legislature passed a law (House Bill 4212) that requires health care providers to collect REALD information at health care visits related to COVID-19, and to share this information with Oregon Health Authority (OHA).
CORE creates training, tools, and processes for local officials, staff, and the community to intentionally identify and disrupt implicit biases and systemic inequities in policymaking.
First Lady Tammy Murphy and national public health expert Dr. Vijaya Hogan released the Nurture NJ 2021 Strategic Plan, a strategy to reduce New Jersey’s high rates of maternal and infant mortality and eliminate the racial disparities responsible for these deaths. The Plan includes over 70 specific, actionable recommendations for maternal health stakeholders across all sectors.
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.
Pennsylvania Department of Human Services Racial Equity Report 2021
Presentation that Oregon Health Authority made at the 2020 NAHDO conference about Oregon’s APAC/APCD and leveraging race and ethnicity data from other state data sources.
As health inequities continue to be exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, there is concerted energy to address this topic across states. Oregon has had a longstanding focus on health equity and employed two foundational strategies that can serve as examples for other states seeking to further their health equity efforts. Oregon first developed a common language and defined what “health equity” meant in the state. The state also engaged community partners to ensure that the community voice was apparent in policy decisions on the state level. When combined, these strategies have helped Oregon develop a foundation to build and implement subsequent health equity efforts in the state.
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.
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.
The Louisiana Department of Health’s (LDH) Office of Community Partnerships and Health Equity, in partnership with LDH agencies, is working to assess, understand, and improveexisting practices and policies, as well as deliver intentional strategies that will build health equity and be informed by (i.e., leverage) Louisiana’s health disparities and inequities.
The Louisiana Department of Health’s (LDH) Office of Community Partnerships and Health Equity, in partnership with LDH agencies, is working to assess, understand, and improveexisting practices and policies, as well as deliver intentional strategies that will build health equity and be informed by (i.e., leverage) Louisiana’s health disparities and inequities.
In the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH), barriers to health (BTH), are seen as those factors that prevent an individual, popu-lation, and/or community from acquiring a) access to health services and/or b) achieving their best health.1 LDH also recognizes that barriers to health can be systems (i.e. structural determinants) that offer health care and services; these systems are shaped by a wider set of forces: economics, social policies/social norms, and politics.3Further, it is also important to note what may be a barrier to one person, population, and/or community may be an asset to others, based on social and cultural factors. Thus, all people, populations, and communities are not all the same and there must be intentionality in ensuring that all whom LDH serve are treated and provided services in a matter that take into consideration-programmatically respond to the environments and circumstances of people, populations, and communities—supporting them in achieving their fullest, best health.
As announced on August 28, 2020, the 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.
An executive plan of action in response to Ohio’s Minority Health Strike Force’s report, “COVID-19 Ohio Minority Strike Force Blueprint,” which addresses racism and promotes long-term health equity through 34 recommendations.
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.
Members of Governor Gavin Newsom’s Task Force on Business and Jobs Recovery urge business and civic leaders to take action to build a more inclusive, resilient economy.
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.
In an effort to address health disparities, the Governor of North Carolina signed an executive order directing resources to historically underutilized businesses, ensuring equitable distribution of pandemic relief funds, and supporting mass testing of migrant farm workers and food processing plant workers.
In a letter to the state’s Patient Protection Commission, the Governor of Nevada requested that the Commission develop long-term policy recommendations that address COVID-19 and broader health equity concerns.
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.
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.
The state of Michigan established the Michigan Coronavirus Task Force on Racial Disparities, which is charged with identifying the drivers of existing racial disparities in COVID-19 outcomes and recommending policies addressing such disparities. The Michigan Safe Start Plan utilizes public health metrics such as impacts on at-risk populations as criteria to trigger movement into consequent phases of reopening.
The second edition of the Health Equity Guide for Public Health Practitioners and Partners is intended to support practitioners and partners engagement in multifaceted approaches to addressing health equity.