Health equity is the state in which everyone has a fair and equitable opportunity to achieve their full health potential without any social, economic, or environmental barriers. Achieving health equity requires ongoing work to change systems and structures that intentionally or unintentionally impact this ability.
UnitedHealthcare Community & State is committed to applying an equity lens to all the work we do and to collaborate and consult with partners, community organizations and experts who can help guide us in this work. To further this effort, we recently formed a Health Equity National Advisory Board (Health Equity Board) to serve as an independent, third-party council to UnitedHealthcare Community & State. Internally, the Health Equity Board will help us build organizational infrastructure and leadership capacity to integrate health equity across our managed care business operations, practices and policies. In addition, the board will provide external thought leadership to inform and influence the prioritization of health equity in the Medicaid program.
The Health Equity Board’s goals are to:
- Serve as a forum for feedback and reactions to UnitedHealthcare’s efforts to embed health equity into our core business functions
- Provide feedback and direction for UnitedHealthcare’s initiatives impacting member disparities and health inequities
- Develop and champion innovations across our organization and the overall Medicaid system to support efforts to reduce health inequities faced by enrollees of Medicaid
- Inform UnitedHealthcare’s position and thought leadership on addressing health inequity
- Help influence policy and program design changes needed to support the prioritization of health equity in the Medicaid program and Medicaid managed care organizations
The board comprises leading experts and advocates as well as Community & State health plan consumers and caregivers. Members currently include:
- Dr. Jeanette Betancourt, Senior Vice President, U.S. Social Impact, Sesame Workshop
- Dr. Melissa Clarke, Chief Population Health Officer, 3M Health Information Systems
- Henry Claypool, Principal, Claypool Consulting
- Dr. Giselle Corbie, MD, MSc, Kenan Distinguished Professor of Social Medicine, Director, Center for Health Equity Research, Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs, University of North Carolina
- Karyne Jones, President and CEO, National Caucus and Center on Black Aging
- William Moore, Racial and Health Equity Administrator, Ramsey County (MN)
- Dr. Shilpa Patel, Associate Director of Health Equity, Center for Health Care Strategies
To improve health equity, we must continually address individual, societal and environmental barriers to health. We are honored to collaborate with our board members, all of whom have diverse and invaluable expertise in this area, and look forward to the work we will accomplish together.
