What budget reconciliation could have been and what Congress must do next

The passage of the Inflation Reduction Act is a moment to celebrate—the investments in climate change and healthcare needs alone are historic. But we shouldn't lose sight of how the ambitious legislation envisioned last fall—including everything from paid family and medical leave to the extended Child Tax Credit and more—was sacrificed because of the politics of the moment. As the nation’s largest health philanthropy, RWJF had hoped for a far broader and more equitable effort to help create an America in which race and ethnicity, income level, neighborhood, disability, occupation, and immigration status no longer determine how long and how well people live. The fight must continue, write Richard Besser, RWJF president and CEO, and Avenel Joseph, vice president of Policy, until health equity is a reality for all rather than a distant aspiration for too many.

'Raising the Bar' Framework Helps Healthcare Organizations Improve Equity and Well-Being

Bold recommendations developed by experts from many sectors provide comprehensive, actionable framework for healthcare organizations to advance equity in care delivery.

Convened by RWJF to identify how healthcare can approach their oft-stated goal to increase equity, Raising the Bar crafted specific principles, roles and actions that healthcare organizations can use to begin, or advance, their health equity work. Advisors led by the National Alliance to impact the Social Determinants of Health (NASDOH) crafted a framework outlining the wide-reaching and essential roles healthcare providers, payers and institutions must play in improving equity and well-being within their own organizations and the communities they serve.