Health Equity Task Force for Delivery and Payment Transformation: Eight Recommendations for Federal Policy Priorities in 2021

In the new presidential term and the 117th Congress, it is imperative that we have bold, innovative leadership to steer us through one of the biggest health and economic crises in generations and embrace a path toward achieving greater health equity. Policy leaders who are committed to anti-racism and advancing racial equity-based changes in systems are essential to achieving greater health equity. In this brief, we present eight recommendations that offer concrete steps policymakers can take to address the barriers that lead to such inequities.

• Recommendation 1: Advance Equity-Focused Health System Transformation
• Recommendation 2: Bolster Investments in the Public Health Infrastructure
• Recommendation 3: Uphold Civil Rights Protections for People with Disabilities, Transgender People, Women, and People with Limited English Proficiency
• Recommendation 4: Advance LGBTQ+ Health Equity
• Recommendation 5: Strengthen Investments in the Health and Well-Being of Children and Youth
• Recommendation 6: Accelerate Behavioral Health Equity
• Recommendation 7: Address the Social and Economic Drivers of Health
• Recommendation 8: Ensure Equitable Access to Health Coverage

These recommendations are interrelated and focus on disrupting and remedying the inequitable distribution of power and resources, which cause harm, perpetuating and exacerbating health inequities. To read the full policy agenda click the download button below.

Written Collaboratively by the Health Equity Task Force for Delivery and Payment Transformation