Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Supported Interventions to Address Health Disparities in Pediatric Populations: A Scoping Review

OBJECTIVE: To assess the scope of Centers for Medicaid and Medicare (CMS) and CHIP funded interventions to minimize pediatric health disparities. METHODS: The authors searched Cochrane Library, Embase, PubMed, and Web of Science using keywords and terms related to Medicaid, Medicare, CMS, public health insurance, pediatric, and health disparities. Full-text, peer-reviewed studies published in English between 2013-2023 focusing on pediatric patients with interventions to reduce health disparities funded by CMS were included. The review of the literature databases was completed over one month, ending in June 2023. Articles were screened for eligibility by the primary author and senior author. Co-authors carried out data tabulation and extraction. RESULTS: Four peer-reviewed, full-text studies published in English between 2013-2023 that focused on pediatric patients (0-18 years old) with public health insurance with interventions to reduce health disparities funded by CMS were included in the review. Study designs included one randomized control study, one intervention study, one cross-sectional study, and one policy statement. Patient sample sizes ranged from 129 to 36,000, including racial/ethnic minorities, low-income families, Medicaid-insured children and adolescents, and Children’s Health Insurance Program recipients. CONCLUSION: Few studies exist examining CMS-funded interventions to minimize pediatric health disparities. Federal-funded programs, specifically CMS, can dismantle health inequities by addressing SDoH impacting minoritized and marginalized pediatric patients.