Authorization for a COVID-19 Health Equity Action Fund

This authorization will support initiatives focused on making demonstrable progress toward health equity with a particular focus on the inequities highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Priority areas for grantmaking include projects designed to answer the following questions: 1. How has the COVID-19 pandemic changed Americans’ perspectives on the U.S. health system and on the need to address racial and ethnic disparities in health care coverage, access, and outcomes? 2. How can we improve the ability of our health system to address institutionalized racism in the payment, delivery, and quality of care that negatively impacts communities of color? To initiate this process, we will consult with national experts and stakeholders in communities of color to provide input, help set priorities, further sharpen the research and policy agenda, identify potential grantees, and define measures of success. The COVID-19 Health Equity Action Fund will be an organization-wide initiative with the expectation that investments are complementary (rather than duplicative) to work in current program areas.