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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the selection of Connecticut, Maryland and Vermont as the first three participants in the new States Advancing All-Payer Health Equity Approaches and Development (AHEAD) Model.
Hawaii will also participate, pending satisfaction of certain requirements.
The AHEAD model has three goals:
Funding will be made available to states in an initial award of up to $12 million, and subsequent annual non-competing continuation awards over the course of up to six years to develop and implement the AHEAD model.
Connecticut will use the initial funding to support participant recruitment, Medicaid payment model development, a state health equity plan, data alignment and analysis and additional quality and cost-growth benchmark initiatives.
"This award reflects the outstanding work happening in Connecticut to ensure that high-quality health care is accessible and affordable for all of our residents," said Governor Lamont. "We will now have additional capacity to advance efforts designed to improve outcomes and control costs: investing more of our health care spend in primary care, strengthening linkages with community programs to address health-related social needs and exploring opportunities to transform payment models."
Tiffany Donelson, President and CEO of the Connecticut Health Foundation, said, "We are especially excited about the health equity plan that will be developed as part of the AHEAD model. We see this as an opportunity to continue to engage all stakeholders in making the changes necessary to ensure everyone can live their healthiest lives."
The Connecticut Hospital Association (CHA) issued a statement in support of the state's participation in the AHEAD Model.
But it also cautioned the model design "rewards the government, rather than the communities and local hospitals providing services and care, if long-term prevention outcomes are achieved and community health and well-being improves over time." And warned that Medicare and Medicaid payment rates may be insufficient to cover the cost of care.
Just so you know, "health equity" is a key CMS priority and a critical component of the AHEAD model, so all participating states will be required to develop a Statewide Health Equity Plan in order to participate.
According to CMS, "health equity" is when everyone has a fair and just opportunity to attain their optimal health.
That's why CMS is committed to doing the work of "addressing the health disparities" that allegedly underlie our health system. "Recognizing and addressing the issues that contribute to health disparities will help achieve health equity," says CMS.
That sure sounds similar to the Marxist narrative on systemic racism... first you have to admit your privilege before you can achieve racial equity.
