June 9, 2020
NCQA is appalled by the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd. These terrible losses in succession, followed by violence against peaceful protesters, are unfortunately part of a larger picture of law enforcement aggression and racial profiling of Black Americans dating back generations. Advances in technology, such as cell phones, have brought awareness of these practices to the public eye, and we witness the unfolding events in horror and shame. We say to our Black fellow Americans: We stand with you. We demand change with you.
Against a backdrop of the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on the Black community, a larger picture of disproportionate illness and death has come into sharp focus. Through our work to identify and address health care disparities and the social determinants of health, we see bold and promising efforts by a growing number of health care organizations—yet, overall, we also continue to see widening disparities and unbearable inequities in many Americans’ ability to access quality health care.
We pledge to examine our current strategies in depth, to redouble our efforts to shine a light on unacceptable gaps in care and to create incentives for improvement for the organizations we assess and accredit.
We commit to working to bring about social and economic justice; criminal justice system reforms, including police practices; equitable legal representation; and incarceration reforms.
As an employer, we recommit to identifying opportunities that promote development of a diverse, thriving workforce. And we invite all stakeholders we work with—health plans, medical practices, employers, states and the federal government—to work with minority leaders and organizations to identify and examine opportunities to create meaningful change together.