A strategic plan to advance health equity that addresses these specific, common areas of significant disparities can help states ensure that their strategies will reach the populations necessary to achieve population health goals.

*Milestone details:

*Full name: Develop or evaluate an existing strategic plan for advancing health equity to ensure it encompasses health disparities by race, culture and ethnicity, levels of education and income, and geographic area.

*Relevance to the ACA:

The ACA provides many resources to states with an interest in strategic planning for health equity, although this is not required by the law. A strategic plan empowers states to evaluate the impact of current state programs and policies, demonstrate areas of continued need, and take advantage of the health equity resources provided by the ACA. Some provisions that can advance health equity include:

§1311, §1513, §2001 – Provide access to health insurance for vulnerable communities.

§4001, §4002, §4201– Fund public health initiatives that address social determinants of health and other prevention strategies.

§4302 – Requires federally-funded health care and public health programs to follow new standards for collecting data on race, ethnicity, sex, primary language, and disability status.

§5301, §5309, §5313, §5402 – Increase diversity and cultural competence among health care providers.