NORC Report: Data Collection in Medicaid to Advance Health Equity

From October to December 2022, NORC at the University of Chicago interviewed representatives from state Medicaid agencies and Medicaid MCOs to understand how they use data to advance health equity. ACAP supported these efforts by connecting them with member plans and reviewing the findings.

The results of the study found that State Medicaid agencies and Medicaid MCOs have made substantial headway in thinking about data collection to improve health equity.

Key findings include:

  • Expanding race, ethnicity, language, disability, and sexual orientation and gender identity categories more accurately captures inequities in enrollee needs and outcomes.
  • Aggregating data across multiple sources helps states and MCOs get a more comprehensive picture of enrollee needs and outcomes.
  • Using delivery system levers improves accountability for improving data collection.

 

The complete report and briefs are available in the sidebar on the right.