Well-being and Workforce Strategy

Employer Guide to Health Equity

Many leading employers and their vendor partners are prioritizing health equity and aim to abolish health disparities across the globe. This guide shares actionable ideas within four domains: health care access, equitable engagement, inclusive experience and social determinants of health.

October 31, 2023

Employers play a major role in setting the stage for health equity around the world.

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Many leading employers and their vendor partners are prioritizing health equity and aim to abolish health disparities across the globe.

Health equity is achieved when everyone has the opportunity to reach their full health potential regardless of demographic, social and geographic differences.¹ Movement forward will require commitments to uncovering bias and discrimination, understanding and changing the experiences of marginalized populations, implementing benefits and resources to address unmet needs and taking action alongside community and government organizations to drive change.

Employers have an important role to play in supporting employees and their dependents in reaching their full health potential. Each employer’s path toward health equity will look different based on business and workforce priorities, culture and internal processes. For example, one employer may choose to start with an assessment of their current benefits in tandem with available data on health care engagement and outcomes to identify disparities and focus on implementing the most impactful interventions for their workforce. Another may take a culture-driven, fiscally conservative approach, focusing on employee feedback and prioritizing low-cost interventions and partnerships to build momentum with quick wins.

health care access, engagement, inclusive experience, SDOH resources & benefits

The Employer Guide to Health Equity shares actionable ideas for those employers committed to advancing health equity within four domains: health care access, equitable engagement, inclusive experience and social determinants of health. It includes key employer strategies, large employer data, spotlights on employers in action, important considerations related to global implementation and links to related resources.

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Health Equity

1 | World Health Organization. Health Equity. https://www.who.int/health-topics/health-equity. Accessed October 5, 2023.
2 | Chen C, Liu M. Achievements and challenges of the healthcare system in China. Cureus. 2023;15(5):e39030. Published 2023 May 15. doi:10.7759/cureus.39030. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10292030/. Accessed October 5, 2023.
3 | Lee D-C, Wang J, Shi L, Wu C, Sun G. Health insurance coverage and access to care in China. BMC Health Services Research. 2022;22(1). doi:10.1186/s12913-022-07498. https://bmchealthservres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12913-022-07498-1. Accessed October 9, 2023.
4 | Rai A. Health equity and access: The only way to reduce health outcome disparities in India. The Times of India. March 12, 2022. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/voices/health-equity-and-access-the-only-way-to-reduce-health-outcome-disparities-in-india/. Accessed October 9, 2023.
5 | The Economic Times. India builds more hospitals as population surges but doctors in short supply. May 10, 2023. https://m.economictimes.com/news/india/india-builds-more-hospitals-as-population-surges-but-doctors-in-short-supply/amp_articleshow/100124282.cms. Accessed October 9, 2023.
6 | Barraza-Lloréns M, Bertozzi S, González-Pier E, Gutiérrez JP. Addressing inequity in health and health care in Mexico. Health Affairs. 2002;21(3):47-56. doi:10.1377/hlthaff.21.3.47. https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/full/10.1377/hlthaff.21.3.47. Accessed October 9, 2023.
7 | Villarreal V. Infographic | How Do Mexicans Get Healthcare? Wilson Center. October 7, 2022. https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/infographic-how-do-mexicans-get-healthcare. Accessed October 9, 2023.
8 | Simon E. Employers urged to consider private healthcare options as NHS waiting lists up by 1m in a year. Corporate Adviser. June 8, 2023. https://corporate-adviser.com/employers-urged-to-consider-private-healthcare-options-as-nhs-waiting-lists-up-by-1m-in-a-year/. Accessed October 9, 2023.
9 | Business Group on Health. 2024 Large Employer Health Care Strategy survey: Full Report. August 22, 2023. https://www.businessgrouphealth.org/en/resources/2024-large-employer-health-care-strategy-survey-full-report. Accessed: October 16, 2023.
10 | The National Council. 2022 Access to Care Survey Results. May 11, 2022. https://www.thenationalcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/2022-Access-To-Care-Survey-Results.pdf. Accessed October 9, 2023.
11 | Business Group on Health. 2024 Large Employer Health Care Strategy Survey: Part 1: Employer Perspectives. August 22, 2023. https://www.businessgrouphealth.org/en/resources/2024-large-employer-health-care-strategy-survey-employer-perspectives. Accessed: October 16, 2023.
12 | Stellantis. 2022 Corporate Social Responsibility Report. https://www.stellantis.com/content/dam/stellantis-corporate/sustainability/csr-disclosure/stellantis/2022/Stellantis-2022-CSR-Report.pdf. Accessed October 9, 2023.
13 | Kelly N. Implementing inclusive policies across a global organization. Harvard Business Review. March 2, 2021. https://hbr.org/2021/03/implementing-inclusive-policies-across-a-global-organization. Accessed October 9, 2023.
14 | Cambridge Network. China’s Diversity – A Look Beyond What Meets the Eye. https://www.cambridgenetwork.com/blog/school-blog/chinas-diversity-a-look-beyond-what-meets-the-eye/. Accessed October 9, 2023.
15 | World Economic Forum. Global Gender Gap Report 2022. July 13, 2022. https://www.weforum.org/reports/global-gender-gap-report-2022/in-full/economy-profiles-5b89d90ea5. Accessed October 9, 2023.
16 | Gao L, Cheng C, Hu O, Pu B. For China’s LGBTQ+ community, safe spaces are becoming harder to find. NBC News. June 13, 2023. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/china-beijing-lgbt-center-rcna85528. Accessed October 9, 2023.
17 | Chin V. China's pioneering gay rights group halts operations under ‘force majeure.' VOA News. May 22, 2023. https://www.voanews.com/a/china-s-pioneering-gay-rights-group-halts-operations-under-force-majeure-/7101614.html. Accessed October 9, 2023.
18 | Society for Human Resource Management. Diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) in India. 2023. https://www.shrm.org/shrm-india/pages/diversity-equity-and-inclusion-dei-in-india.aspx. Accessed August 15, 2023.
19 | Anand S. The next level of diversity for companies in India. SHRM India. July 11, 2022. https://www.shrm.org/shrm-india/pages/the-next-level-of-diversity-for-companies-in-india.aspx. Accessed August 15, 2023.
20 | Linthicum K. Mexico’s new racial reckoning: A movement protests colorism and white privilege. Los Angeles Times. October 20, 2022. https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2022-10-20/mexico-anti-racism-movement-protests-colorism. Accessed August 16, 2023.
21 | Chancel L, Piketty T, Saez E, Zucman G. World Inequality Report 2022. World Inequality Lab. https://wir2022.wid.world/country-appendix-glossary/. Accessed August 16, 2023.
22 | Salinas JJ, Al Snih S, Markides K, Ray LA, Angel RJ. The rural-urban divide: Health services utilization among older Mexicans in Mexico. J Rural Health. 2010 Fall;26(4):333-341. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2967463/. Accessed August 14, 2023.
23 | Poushter J, Kent N. The global divide on homosexuality persists. Pew Research Center. June 25, 2020. https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2020/06/25/global-divide-on-homosexuality-persists/. Accessed August 17, 2023.
24 | Associated Press. Same-sex marriage is now legal in all of Mexico’s states. AP News. October 27, 2022. https://apnews.com/article/mexico-caribbean-gay-rights-marriage-e214fe19d33a4bd67cb04a1fb556178a. Accessed August 17, 2023.
25 | HRC Foundation. The HRC Equidad MX 2023 Report. Human Rights Campaign Foundation. https://www.hrc.org/resources/hrc-equidad-mx-global-workplace-equality-program. Accessed August 18, 2023.
26 | Allas T, Canal M, Hunt DV, Olanrewaju T. Problems amid progress: Improving lives and livelihoods for ethnic minorities in the United Kingdom. McKinsey & Company. October 15, 2020. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/public-sector/our-insights/problems-amid-progress-improving-lives-and-livelihoods-for-ethnic-minorities-in-the-united-kingdom. Accessed August 21, 2023.
27 | PwC. Women in work index 2023. Closing the gender gap for good: A focus on the motherhood penalty. 2023. https://www.pwc.co.uk/services/economics/insights/women-in-work-index.html. Accessed August 21, 2023.
28 | Centre for Ageing Better. Doddery but dear? Examining age-related stereotypes. March 2020. https://ageing-better.org.uk/sites/default/files/2021-08/Doddery-but-dear-examining-stereotypes.pdf. Accessed August 21, 2023.
29 | Supreme Court of the United States. Students for Fair Admissions, inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard college. October 2022. https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/22pdf/20-1199_hgdj.pdf. Accessed August 21, 2023.
30 | Casanova-Perez R, Apodaca C, Bascom E, Mohanraj D, Lane C, Vidyarthi D, Beneteau E, Sabin J, Pratt W, Weibel N, Hartzler AL. Broken down by bias: Healthcare biases experienced by BIPOC and LGBTQ+ patients. AMIA Annu Symp Proc. 2022 Feb 21;2021:275-284. PMID: 35308990; PMCID: PMC8861755. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8861755/. Accessed August 15, 2023.
31 | Keller D. Perlov G., Miller J. Osman Z, Steward J., Kinsley U. Inclusive cities dynamic economies better lives: Open for business city ratings 2022. Open for Business. 2022. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5bba53a8ab1a62771504d1dd/t/62bace1be55fe93337257786/1656409636102/Open+For+Business+City+Ratings+Report+2022.pdf. Accessed August 15, 2023.
32 | Business Group on Health. Business Group on Health urges federal action to protect employer plans, employees and patients following the Dobbs decision. July 7, 2022. https://www.businessgrouphealth.org/resources/dobbs-tri-department-letter. Accessed August 15, 2023.
33 | Supreme Court of United States. Dobbs, State Health Officer of the Mississippi Department of Health, et al. v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization et al. June 2022. https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/19-1392_6j37.pdf. Accessed August 16, 2023.
34 | Business Group on Health. Artificial intelligence: The future of health care unleased? August 23, 2023. https://www.businessgrouphealth.org/resources/artificial-intelligence-the-future-of-health-care-unleashed. Accessed October 16, 2023.
35 | Nundy S, Cooper LA, Kelsay E. Employers can do more to advance health equity. Harvard Business Review. January-February 2023. https://hbr.org/2023/01/employers-can-do-more-to-advance-health-equity. Accessed August 22, 2023.
36 | U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Social determinants of health at CDC. December 8, 2022. https://www.cdc.gov/socialdeterminants/data/index.htm. Accessed October 16, 2023.
37 | Boston University School of Public Health and Rockefeller Foundation. Global determinants of health datasets. 2023. https://dataforhealthequity.org/. Accessed October 16, 2023.

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