Center on Health Equity & Access

Carrie Kozlowski, OT, MBA, chief operating officer and cofounder of Upfront Healthcare, explains how the company emphasizes personalized engagement to overcome technological, cultural, and social barriers while Medicaid disenrollment rates are increasing.

Researchers have identified a surge in breast cancer rates among young women and racial disparities across age groups.

Combining interventions to encourage screenings for colorectal cancer (CRC) and social determinants of health (SDOH) was found to improve screening rates in CRC without decreasing rates of screenings for SDOH.

Part of the recent Medicare reimbursement cuts could be addressed in a spending package next month; Medicaid/Medicare dual eligibles are expected to generate big profits for health insurers; FDA sent warning letters to online vendors selling unapproved and misbranded versions of semaglutide and tirzepatide.

"I'll say what I don't think the issue is—it's not technology. We can solve this problem with technology," Carrie Kozlowski, OT, MBA, explains in the interview.

On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with the authors of a study published in the February 2024 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® about their findings on how health plans can screen for health literacy, social determinants of health, and perceived health care discrimination.

The federal State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) provides counseling and education on Medicare coverage options. This article highlights potential inequities in in-person SHIP service access.

A single-institution, retrospective cohort study evaluates knowledge gaps in clinical data on Black patients with melanoma.

Over the past 20 years, Medicare physician pay has plummeted by 26% when adjusted for inflation, while hospital reimbursement has surged by 70%, prompting over 100,000 doctors to abandon independent practice for hospital or corporate employment since 2019.

Catch up on this week's news at the Center on Health Equity and Access.

At an Institute for Value-Based Medicine® event held in Phoenix, Arizona, experts from Banner Health and Aetna discussed how health inequities and social determinants of health can affect primary care in patients with any type of insurance.

Chandler Cortina, MD, MS, FSSO, FACS, is assistant professor of surgery and breast surgical oncologist at Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin. His current research focuses on breast cancer risk not only in general but also among transgender and gender-diverse populations.

The mobile intervention teams mark a significant step forward in federal efforts to transform mental health services across the nation, as New Mexico becomes the 15th state to adopt this option under the American Rescue Plan.

Emergent colorectal cancer (CRC) resection was found to be more prevalent in patients who identified as non-White.

While White individuals are less likely to suffer from severe psychological distress, findings showed White individuals are more likely to experience “deaths of despair” when compared with Black and Hispanic individuals in the US.

States channel billions into housing for the homeless using Medicaid funds; AstraZeneca invests $300 million to discover and develop cell therapies; the CDC highlights dangers of menthol cigarette addiction.

A total of 16,430,000 Medicaid enrollees have been disenrolled across all 50 states and the District of Columbia, as of February 1, 2024.

Although 30-day mortality rates did not worsen for Medicare beneficiaries at hospitals with high proportions of Black patients compared with other hospitals, gaps in outcomes widened for Black adults with pneumonia under the Medicare Value-Based Purchasing Program.

This study provides insight on the experiences of patients of a national health plan with 2 structural determinants of health—health care discrimination and health literacy—and how those interact with social determinants of health and patient demographics.

The Center on Health Equity and Access provides real-time updates, shares cutting-edge research, and supports continuous efforts dedicated to tackling health care disparities and enhancing widespread access to high-quality health services.

The article emphasizes the significance of accreditations in addressing health disparities and promoting health equity, highlighting programs for achieving accreditation and advocating for the integration of social determinants of health (SDOH) and health equity practices within pharmacy and health care.

Payers, health systems, and health professionals will experience expanded accountability for performance in closing health disparity gaps in 2024.

Pandemic-era policies that made it easier for patients to receive opioid addiction treatment will continue permanently; the Biden administration is facing pressure from Democrats and reproductive health groups to make sure the first OTC birth control pill is affordable; a FDA expert panel on Friday is set to resume the debate over how to make pulse oximeters more accurate for people with darker skin.

The newly appointed president and CEO of the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions discussed timely issues where we may see progress in 2024.