Op-Ed: CMS Innovation Models

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CENTER FOR POLICY ANALYSIS AND RESEARCH CENTER FOR POLICY ANALYSIS AND RESEARCH Health Equity Health Equity

Oluwatosin Oyadiran, John R. Lewis Social Justice Fellow | October 2023

Op-Ed: CMS Innovation Models A Starting Point to Addressing Racial Bias in Healthcare This past year, I had the privilege of serving as a health fellow and legislative aide in the

Implicit bias has prevented Black Americans from benefiting from CMMI’s objective to enhance care quality.

United States House of Representatives and had insightful discussions with stakeholders about the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (aka CMS Innovation Center or “CMMI”). Through these conversations, it became evident to me that CMMI requires significant reforms, which must be approached with care to avoid exacerbating health disparities. Access is a critical driver for health equity; therefore, payment and service delivery models must prioritize cultural competence and ensure accountability. Policies and regulations that overlook racial disparities merely contribute to the problem. Thus, healthcare professionals, organizations, and legislators must enact active antiracist reforms and practices.

RACIAL DISPARITIES IN REIMBURSEMENT MODELS The CMS Innovation Center was established within the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to pilot healthcare reimbursement models and ensure that active payment and service delivery models improve quality of care and lower healthcare costs. However, the non-inclusion of health equity at the core of these models has inadvertently promoted racial disparities. Further, implicit bias has prevented Black Americans from benefiting from CMMI’s objective to enhance care quality.

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Op-Ed: CMS Innovation Models—A Star ting Point for Addressing Racial Bias in Healthcare

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