Critical role of New York’s community health centers in advancing equity in Medicaid : investment in community health centers can help New York achieve its health equity goals Urban Institute research report Waidmann, Timothy, author. Allen, Eva H., author. Willis, Carla, author. Pancini, Vincent, author. Mayer, Juliana, author. Community Health Services -- economics Community Health Services -- organization & administration Delivery of Health Care Health Equity Health Policy Healthcare Disparities Medicaid Community health centers are a linchpin of New York’s health care safety net, providing comprehensive primary care, behavioral health, and dental and vision services to 2.3 million patients who may otherwise lack access to health care. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the crucial role of New York’s community health centers in promoting health equity, including their deep ties in underresourced communities, expertise in using culturally effective approaches and addressing structural barriers to care, and nimbleness in rapidly adopting telehealth and assuming the first responder role amid the public health emergency. Caring for one in six Medicaid enrollees, community health centers are an important partner in New York’s efforts to transform its Medicaid program into a more comprehensive delivery system equipped to address enrollees’ health-related social needs and reduce disparities, and supported by “health equity-informed advance value-based payment arrangements (New York State Department of Health 2022).” This report describes the value proposition of community health centers in supporting the state’s health equity goals and examines the New York State Medicaid prospective payment system (PPS) as a foundation for a health equity-focused alternative payment model. Washington, DC : Urban Institute, November 2023 Health Policy Center (Urban Institute), issuing body. Technical Report Text Illustrations 1 online resource (1 PDF file (vi, 49 pages)) nlm:nlmuid-9918734184306676-pdf 9918734184306676 http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9918734184306676 English New York Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY-NC-DC license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0