Clients: Health Equity
Bailit Health has assisted over 150 clients since 1997 to improve methods for purchasing or regulating health and human services. A partial listing of these clients can be found below, as well as examples of the types of work that we have conducted for them.
Rhode Island Executive Office of Health and Human Services
Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services
Client
State Health and Value Strategies (SHVS), a grantee of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Challenge
The Medicaid population is diverse, including adults with low-incomes, children, individuals who are pregnant, individuals with disabilities, and seniors. Population groups covered by Medicaid are often among the most economically and socially marginalized. Multiple imbalances of power and resources, along with existing policies and common practices, contribute to disparate health care utilization and outcomes among Medicaid members. Yet it is challenging for State agencies to figure out how to better promote health equity and what changes to make in their Medicaid policies, managed care procurements, and contracts.
Response
With support from SHVS, Bailit Health is sharing information about state approaches to promote equity and identifying concrete steps for states to make progress toward their health equity-related goals, particularly within their Medicaid managed care programs.
Bailit Health created "Promoting Health Equity in Medicaid Managed Care: A Guide for States", a practical guide that offers a series of concrete actions state Medicaid agencies can implement internally and with their contracted health plans in pursuit of health equity.
Bailit Health also created and annually updates a "Compendium of Medicaid Managed Care Contracting Strategies to Promote Health Equity".
In addition, Bailit Health authored SHVS issue briefs identifying Medicaid managed care strategies for states to confront inequities in Mental Healthcare for Adults and Maternal Care.
Client
Rhode Island Executive Office of Health and Human Services
Challenge
The state believed it was important to introduce a health equity performance incentive into Rhode Island´s Medicaid Accountable Care Organization program.
Response
Bailit Health worked with the state Medicaid agency and a work group comprised of Accountable Entities (Medicaid ACOs) and managed care organizations to devise a “measure of measures” that stratifies existing measures by member race, ethnicity and language which are part of the state´s quality incentive program.
Client
Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services
Challenge
The Massachusetts Medicaid program (MassHealth) recognized that a lack of data standards, performance measures and accountability mechanisms significantly limited efforts to reduce health outcome disparities and improve health equity.
Response
Bailit Health supported the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services to develop standards to capture, categorize and validate race, ethnicity, language, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex data. The work also included identifying health equity measures and mechanisms to assure provider accountability for disparity reduction.
