Meridian Health Plan of Illinois will reimburse a portion of the certification fees for hospitals that participate in The Joint Commission's Health Care Equity Certification.
According to a March 20 news release from the Centene subsidiary, Meridian Health Plan of Illinois is the first Medicaid plan to incentivize hospitals to receive the certification.
The Joint Commission launched the voluntary program in July. It is open to all Joint Commission-accredited hospitals and critical access hospitals.
Meridian is encouraging its in-network hospitals to achieve the accreditation to ensure they have formal processes and goals for addressing health disparities, according to the news release. Meridian will reimburse 25% of the certification costs for safety net and critical access hospitals, and 15% for all other hospitals.
"We're thrilled to be the first Medicaid health plan in the country to leverage The Joint Commission's Health Care Equity Certification to advance our mission to transform the health of the community, one person at a time," Meridian Plan President and CEO Cristal Gary said.