All Tribes Consultation Webinar
Measuring Health Disparities in Medicaid and CHIP
Date: Thursday, October 13, 2022
2:00-3:00 PM Eastern Time
Registration Link

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Division of Tribal Affairs (DTA), in collaboration with the CMCS Disabled and Elderly Health Program Group, will host an All Tribes Consultation Webinar on Thursday, October 13, 2022, at 2:00-3:00 p.m. ET to provide an overview of how CMS is proposing to measure health disparities in Medicaid and CHIP to advance health equity.

Background: Medicaid and CHIP provide essential health care coverage for over 80 million individuals and families, and is the primary source of health care coverage for over one in three people of color. Medicaid also covers 42 percent of all births in the nation. Two-thirds of these births are to Black, Hispanic, or American Indian/Alaskan Native (AI/AN) women.
In addition to providing coverage of physical health care, Medicaid is the largest payer for long-term services and supports, including home and community-based services, which allow individuals with a range of disabilities and needs to thrive and live independently at home or in their communities. Medicaid is also the largest payer for public mental health services, including for individuals with serious mental illnesses, substance use disorders, or co-occurring disorders.

Significant disparities have been identified within the Medicaid and CHIP population. For example, Black and AI/AN women are three to four times more likely than White women to die from pregnancy-related complications and more likely to have a preventable death. Compared to White beneficiaries, AI/AN and Asian American/Pacific Islander beneficiaries reported worse experiences when it came to getting needed care, getting care quickly, how well doctors communicate, and health plan information and customer service.

CMS is proposing to more systematically measure disparities by stratifying a variety of measures already used within the Medicaid and CHIP programs so that we can identify where the gaps are and work together with states to work towards closing them.

Purpose: The purpose of this All Tribes Consultation Webinar is to gather input from the Tribal community on CMS’ proposed approach and the measures CMS is proposing to include in its Equity Measure Slate.

For more information about the Medicaid and CHIP measure sets, please visit:

• the Medicaid and CHIP Child Core Set
• the Medicaid Adult Core Set
• the Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) Quality Measure Set
• the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS)