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As part of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) overarching initiative to support health care quality improvement to underserved Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, the Center for Medicaid and State Operations (CMSO) has engaged in an intra-agency, private, and public sector collaboration with States, various community-based organizations, stakeholders, and underserved communities interested in addressing health disparities, incorporating a health disparities component into the Agency's quality initiatives, and providing beneficiaries with information about CMS' programs. According to the National Healthcare Disparities Report, developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), though there are differences in care seeking behavior, which are attributable to factors that include cultural beliefs, linguistics, and lifestyle choices, health disparities often represent an 'inequality in quality' and usually lacks the necessary framework for quality as defined by the Institute of Medicine (IOM): patient safety, patient-centeredness, timeliness, efficiency and equity. As part of CMS's broader disparity strategy, the CMSO charge to reduce racial and ethnic health disparities in Medicaid and CHIP will focus on the following objectives: 1. Disseminate information about promising/best practices in health disparities in Medicaid and CHIP to the forum and external organizations. 2. Identify vulnerabilities and areas of opportunity in Medicaid and CHIP for quality improvement and the reduction of health disparities in Medicaid beneficiaries. 3. Identify and collaborate with States and external organizations/resources to develop partnerships to reduce health disparities in Medicaid and CHIP. New AHRQ Reports Analyze Disparities by Type of Payer "Health Care Coverage Analyses of the 2006 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports (Coverage Analyses)" presents for the first time data on quality and racial and ethnic disparity measures by payer. The Coverage Analyses were prepared by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality for and in consultation with the CMS. Using data submitted for the 2006 National Healthcare Quality and National Healthcare Disparities reports, the Coverage Analyses examine how the health care experiences of individuals with public insurance—primarily Medicaid—compare with individuals with private insurance and individuals with no insurance, and examines racial and ethnic disparities among and within payers. For this report, the Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program populations were approximated by examining data on individuals under age 65 with public insurance. While there is substantial room for improvement for all measures for all insurance types and for all races and ethnicities, there are some notable variations by insurance and race/ethnicity. The full report is available as a download below.
Page Last Modified: 04/28/2009 1:38:51 PM
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