Collecting and monitoring data on Medicaid enrollees that is broken down by race, ethnicity, and language (REL) is an essential first step in assessing health disparities as well as identifying strategies for improvement in state Medicaid programs. Although all state Medicaid agencies and most U.S. territories collect self-reported data on REL from applicants during the eligibility and enrollment process, many states continue to face longstanding and persistent challenges in collecting complete, accurate, and granular data on REL.

In this issue brief prepared for State Health and Value Strategies with funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, SHADAC researchers Emily Zylla, Elizabeth Lukanen, and Hannah Geressu provide an overview of federal REL data collection standards, and examine Medicaid application questions, answer options, and instructional language used by Medicaid programs in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories. This serves as an update to SHADAC’s previous brief, providing up-to-date information on Medicaid REL data collection among the states and extending the analysis to include the District of Columbia and the five territories.

Access the full brief for more information on state-level Medicaid REL data collection.

Related Reading
Previous version: Collection of Race, Ethnicity, Language (REL) Data in Medicaid Applications: A 50-state Review of the Current Landscape

SHVS Brief: Collection of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) Data: Considerations for Medicaid and Spotlight on Oregon (Update forthcoming)

SHVS Expert Perspective: Exploring Strategies to Fill Gaps in Medicaid Race, Ethnicity, and Language Data