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Health Leads Joins SHADAC and RWJF for Next Phase of Medicaid Equity Monitoring Tool Project
January 07, 2024:
The State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC) is partnering with Health Leads for the second phase of its Medicaid Equity Monitoring Tool project.
Supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), the project explores the possibility of using a national Medicaid equity monitoring tool to hold state Medicaid programs accountable for improving population health by advancing health equity.
“Medicaid offers a huge opportunity to increase health equity in the United States,” said Aingyea Fraser, program officer at RWJF. “Medicaid covers millions of people across all 50 states and is the single largest insurer for children, which means it has the ability to make meaningful, widespread change. I am excited to see how this partnership builds on the first phase and helps us explore all opportunities of the tool.”
The project aims to identify and, if possible, track the contributions of state Medicaid programs toward achieving health equity while also highlighting areas for improvement and, importantly, ensuring that the perspectives of those most affected by health inequities are heard.
Christina Worrall, co-project lead alongside Lynn Blewett, founding director of SHADAC, echoes the importance of focusing on who Medicaid serves, noting: “SHADAC is grateful to RWJF for this chance to work alongside Health Leads to fulfill one of the recommendations from our first phase Advisory Committee, which was to continue to center the voice of those experiencing health inequities in state Medicaid programs in the discussions of a potential monitoring tool.”
Health Leads works both nationally and locally to shift power and decision-making to community members who are best positioned to inform, design, and lead interventions. With a wealth of tangible knowledge and experience in authentic and effective community engagement, Health Leads will convene Medicaid community members to better understand and uplift how they define and measure health.
“SHADAC and RWJF have a vision for how Medicaid can be strengthened by input and direction from its members," said Dominique Morgan, chief operating officer at Health Leads. “This collaboration presents a real opportunity and potentially replicable model for how community can shape and drive equity into policy and the implementation of critical health services.”
The input from community members will be central to informing the work of facilitating discussions with Medicaid subject matter experts around data collection and measure inclusion that SHADAC is doing with ongoing consultation from RACE for Equity. At the end of this phase, SHADAC, RACE for Equity, and Health Leads will make recommendations about the feasibility of moving forward with designing and developing a Medicaid equity monitoring tool.
