Using Provider Payment to Reduce Disparities: Lessons from Two Medicaid Health Plans
Center for Health Care Strategies
Better care where it's needed most
Medicaid payers are increasingly using payment strategies to address health disparities. Value-based payment (VBP) is one approach payers use to incentivize providers to focus on improving quality of care rather than volume of services. VBP can also be designed to help narrow gaps in outcomes.
These payment models require careful design on which disparities to prioritize, how to measure, and how to define success. Two Medicaid health plans, AmeriHealth Caritas Delaware and Community Health Plan of Washington, have been refining their VBP programs since 2019 as members of the Advancing Health Equity learning collaborative, a national program supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. This blog post, from the Center for Health Care Strategies and plan representatives in both states, explores the health plans’ VBP approaches and shares key lessons, including challenges and facilitators, for developing and implementing VBP programs to reduce health disparities. ?