Two Years In, CMS’s Health Equity Initiative Continues Making Significant Strides

In 2022, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI), as part of its Advance Health Equity objective, rolled out a new health equity initiative. Its stated goals are to increase safety-net provider participation, develop new models and revise existing models to promote and incentivize equitable care, monitor and evaluate models for health equity impact, and increase collection and analysis of equity data. Notable achievements have been made with respect to each goal. New work this year includes payment innovations to narrow disparities in care, a focus on safety-net provider participation in models to improve care for more beneficiaries, and data collection that advances a comprehensive approach to care.