Aligning for Health Comments on CMS Make Your Voice Heard RFI
Aligning for Health submitted comments in response to the CMS “Make Your Voice Heard: Promoting Efficiency and Equity Within CMS Programs” Request for Information (RFI).
Through this RFI, CMS is seeking to better understand individual and community-level burdens, health-related social needs, and opportunities for improvement that can reduce disparities and promote efficiency and innovation across our programs. CMS requested information related to strategies that successfully address drivers of health inequities, including opportunities to address social determinants of health and challenges underserved communities face in accessing comprehensive, quality care.
Aligning for Health supports many of the steps that the Biden-Harris Administration has taken to prioritize equity for all, including through initiatives to address social determinants of health. Our comments focused on questions posed in the RFI as it pertains to opportunities to better understand and address health-related social needs and to embed health equity into all CMS efforts, to include:
- The need for coordination across sectors to reduce siloes and and better coordinate health care and social services;
- Identifying and addressing social needs and disparities through improved data collection and standardization, screening for social needs, and assessment for if health-related social needs are being met;
- Addressing data sharing within federal health programs and ensuring community-based organizations have the capacity to assist with connecting individuals to resources to meet their needs; and other areas.
To read our comments, click here or see below:
AFH - CMS Make Your Voice Heard RFI - FINAL
