Now is the time for measuring social drivers of health in Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program

As the nation looks toward establishing some semblance of post-pandemic normalcy, the economic inequity and health disparities laid bare by COVID endure. Yet despite a broad national consensus that economic and social factors, known as drivers of health (DoH), can affect health outcomes and costs, as well as intensify health inequities, standardized measures to identify DoH remain largely absent from federal programs.  

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is poised to change that.