Bridging the Health Equity Gap

Health inequities are not inevitable; they’re preventable. That makes them a moral and policy imperative.

Health  Equity: Four Levers with the Biggest Payoff

1. Guarantee Stable Coverage: Continuous eligibility and simplified renewals to prevent churn.
2. Raise Care Quality Where It’s Needed Most: Hospital safety bundles, respectful care metrics, and public reporting.
3. Fund Community-Based Care: Doulas, CHWs, peer support, school-based services, and mobile crisis response.
4. Fix Place-Based Risks: Environmental clean-up, housing quality, and climate resilience in high-burden tracts.

What States and Cities Can Do Now

• Extend Medicaid postpartum coverage to 12 months and reimburse doula care.
• Stand up 24/7 crisis lines with mobile teams and short-stay stabilization—reducing police-only responses.
• Mandate transparent hospital reporting on maternal outcomes and disparities.
• Target EJ funds for lead abatement, tree canopy, cooling centers, and asthma home remediation.

Measuring Health Equity

Set explicit goals: reduce Black maternal mortality; narrow pediatric asthma ER visits; cut behavioral-health wait times; improve hypertension control. Publish dashboards, tie payments to progress, and center patient experience.

Further Reading & Data

• KFF: Racial Equity & Health Policy
• CDC: Health Equity
• HHS Office of Minority Health
• NIH NIMHD
• SAMHSA
• EPA: Environmental Justice