Turning action into equity
"We believe that everyone should have access to high-quality, affordable health care, and we believe the time to act is now. We view this work as a critical part of our decades-long focus on providing quality care to our members."
Sarah Iselin
President and Chief Executive Officer
See problems. Share solutions. Make change.
In partnership with our members, our clients, our business partners, community organizations, and the medical community, we’re working to create a better health care system for everyone.
Equity and care
We’re teaming up with the providers in our network to ensure equity in care. We’re building this commitment into our contracts and payment programs, and we’re collaborating with community members and experts in health equity to develop innovative new solutions.
Equity and access
We’ve stepped up our efforts to ensure better access for all, including:
- Making our website available in Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Russian
- Working with all of our business partners to ensure that they’re measuring the equity of the services they provide and addressing any disparities in care
- Launching a Spanish-language version of MyBlue, our member account site, and Coverage, our health news site
Equity: How you can help
Our members can help improve our health care system by confidentially sharing race, ethnicity, and language preferences.
Equity and employer partners
We know our customers want all their employees to receive quality, affordable health care, regardless of their race, ethnicity, or neighborhood. We’re making the insights from our Health Equity Report available to employers and supporting them in implementing best-in-class practices.
Growing our support in 2024
We’re excited about the growth of our Equity Action Community (EAC). The EAC focuses on identifying and spreading interventions that improve the equity of care that our members receive, with an emphasis on hypertension, diabetes, cancer screenings, and pediatric wellness. We’re thrilled to be increasing our support of smaller group providers in 2024, in addition to collaborating with large health systems like Beth Israel Lahey Health, Mass General Brigham Health, Tufts Medical Center, and Boston Medical Center.
We’re also happy to report that Boston Children’s Hospital has become the first children’s hospital in the nation to participate in a pay-for-equity financial payment model, joining five other large heath care systems.
See the data
Our Health Equity Report examines data from more than 1.4 million commercial Massachusetts members and identifies racial disparities in care. In line with our commitment to transparency, we make this data available to the public. And, in partnership with the medical community, we’re using it to make meaningful change.
Expanding equity in our community
Here’s what we’re doing to help make a lasting, sustainable impact on our community:
- Investing in organizations that are advancing health justice.
- Helping underrepresented entrepreneurs build innovative health care solutions through our Business Accelerator.
- Publishing powerful perspectives of Black women physicians in the Diva Docs network.
- Supporting the Health Equity Compact, a coalition of leaders of color.
- Advancing economic opportunities through our Supplier Diversity Program.
Inclusivity. It’s how we work.
To ensure that all our employees feel respected, included, and empowered to contribute, we’re committed to:
- Recruiting, promoting, and retaining diverse employees at all levels
- Leveraging our training programs to share best practices and reinforce the importance of inclusive leadership
- Continuing to educate employees on cultural competency
- Fostering a company culture where every voice is welcomed, heard, and valued
- Honoring and observing the history of diverse populations through employee resource groups and corporate programming
Beginning in January 2023, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts has engaged health care provider organizations value-based contracts that incorporate financial incentives to measurably improve health equity. More information on these pay-for-equity contracts is available here and here, and technical details of the methods underlying the pay-for-equity contract design are available here.