TWC News Update: CMS Announces Minority Health Equity Plan

Officials with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Office of Minority Health (OMH) recently unveiled the or­ganization’s first plan to address health equity in Medicare.

The CMS Equity Plan for Im­proving Quality in Medicare is be­ing described as an action-oriented plan that will focus on six priority areas and aim to reduce health dis­parities.

“As we strive to create a health­care system that provides better care, spends dollars more wisely, and creates healthier people, CMS is committed to achieving equity for minority and other underserved populations and eliminating health disparities among Medicare benefi­ciaries,” CMS acting administrator Andy Slavitt said in a released state­ment.

The Equity Plan reportedly fo­cuses on Medicare populations that experience disproportionately high burdens of disease, lower quality of care, and barriers accessing care. These include racial and ethnic mi­norities, sexual and gender minori­ties, people living with disabilities, and those living in rural areas.

The priorities and activities de­scribed in the plan were developed during a year-long process in col­laboration with NORC at the Uni­versity of Chicago, which included examining evidence, identifying opportunities, and gathering input from a broad array of stakehold­ers across the country, according to CMS officials.

Six priority areas and several high-yield activities serve as the plan’s foundation.

“We know that in order to achieve the goals of the plan, we need to work with many stakehold­ers, and we hope that as we start to implement the activities in the plan, we will see a number of them join us on the path to equity,” said Cara James, director of the OMH.

Visit: www.cms.gov/About-CMS/Agency-Information/omh/index.html for more info.