Oregon leverages Medicaid to address social determinants of health and health equity

By promoting health-related services and adding a profit reinvestment initiative, the state is pushing to put more dollars towards health equity and social needs. Challenges with food insecurity, housing, non-medical transportation and other social needs impact members' health and well-being and may lead to inefficient use of health care services. State Medicaid programs are increasingly seeking ways to address these non-medical social determinants of health (SDOH), exploring flexibility to fund solutions through state plan amendments and waivers. One lever of change is states' contracting arrangements with Medicaid managed care organizations (MCOs), which now cover over two-thirds of enrollees.