Health Equity Compact: Leadership Coalition Leads the Fight Against Inequities

The Health Equity Compact (“Compact”) is a Massachusetts coalition of over 80 leaders of color who collectively advocate for health equity. Its leaders represent a wide range of organizations, including academic institutions, technology companies, hospitals, and community health centers.

“These leaders are driven by their own personal experiences”, said Sonna Obiorah, Senior Policy and Communication Specialist at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts and an HEC volunteer. “The reality is that fighting against health disparities is life or death for hundreds of thousands of people across Massachusetts. It is a cause that can add years to people’s lives.”

Mass League President and CEO and Compact Co-Founder Michael Curry, Esq., was instrumental in organizing the HEC and shaping its goals. He foresaw the powerful and unique impact that the HEC — a collaborative group of leaders of color with a unified vision — could have on the Mass League’s core mission of advancing health equity.

“I don’t think that most legislators or C-suite leaders understand the urgency of prioritizing health equity and eliminating racial and ethnic disparities,” said Curry. “It’s understandable, because it’s not their lived experience. That’s why Compact leaders are shining a bright light on those priorities and using our positions of influence and privilege to help advance the health equity agenda in Massachusetts.”

The Compact has been busy promoting health equity since the organization’s founding in 2022. Below are some highlights of their recent accomplishments.

• Shaping policy: The Compact filed An Act to Advance Health Equity, proposed legislation that aims to advance health equity in Massachusetts through “changing the structure of state government to prioritize equity; standardizing and reporting on data to advance health equity; investing in a qualified, diverse health workforce; improving access and quality of care; and investing in building healthier communities.” While this act did not pass, the Compact is planning to push additional proposed legislation next year.
• Understanding economic incentives for advancing health equity: The Compact collaborated with the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation to publish “The Time is Now: The $5.9 Billion Case for MA Health Equity Reform,” a report that examines the economic impact of health inequities on Black, Hispanic/Latino, and Asian populations and their effect on the entire Massachusetts economy.
• Bringing leaders together to address inequity: The Compact developed the Health Equity Trends Summit to promote collective action toward advancing health equity. The first summit, hosted in 2023, had 700 participants, and this year’s summit had over 1,000 participants.

2024 Equity Summit: From Ideation to Action

The 2^nd annual Health Equity Trends Summit was hosted on June 6, 2024, at UMass Boston. The event featured 32 speakers and panelists from government, health care, and community sectors, including opening remarks from Curry and statements from Governor Maura Healy, Chancellor of UMass Boston Marcello Suarez-Orozco, Senator Sydney Freidman, Representative John Lawn, and event emcee Sheila Och, Chief Equity Officer of Lowell Community Health Center.

The theme for this year’s Trends Summit, “Show Your Action,” was a follow-up of last year’s theme, “Call to Action.” Health care leaders at the event spoke not only about the collective impact of the Compact but also about the initiatives and practices taking place at their respective institutions to combat systemic health issues in Massachusetts. These Compact member accomplishments include:

• Center for Health Information and Analysis: published several new reports in a series on health care equity on topics such as hospital utilization, health care coverage and affordability, and the health care workforce
• Massachusetts Health Policy Commission: recommended a health equity benchmark based on 2023 cost trends report and conducted research to demonstrate the significant financial burden of inequities on MA
• Executive Office of Health and Human Services: launched Advancing Health Equity in Massachusetts, a place-based initiative aimed at eliminating racial, economic, and regional health disparities in maternal health and social determinants of cardiometabolic diseases
• Massachusetts Department of Public Health: established strategies and objectives for the strategic plan to advance racial equity
• Massachusetts hospitals and Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association: helped Massachusetts become the first state in the nation to have all acute care hospitals meet The Joint Commission’s new health care equity accreditation standards
• Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation: proposed a statewide Health Equity Action Plan to achieve a racially and ethnically equitable health care delivery system through a cross-system collaboration, alignment, and shared accountability

To watch a full recording of the summit, visit the Compact’s website.