CMS to replace some health equity measures with those addressing wellness

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is moving away from measures to combat health inequity in favor of nutrition and well-being initiatives. The agency has indicated it wants to eliminate several incentives and requirements for hospitals and physicians to address health disparities, including requiring hospitals to collect data on where patients live and their income. The agency also nixed a measure for doctors to implement a plan to root out “explicit and implicit biases in patient care.” However, the Health Equity Index for privately run Medicare Advantage plans is still in place but is now called “Healthy Outcomes for All.” CMS recently issued a public request for information on how to build provider quality measures to address nutrition and well-being. (Politico article, 4/22/25)