Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Tackling Hypertension in Medicaid Through Community Partnerships with Dr. Kara Odom Walker

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Tackling Hypertension in Medicaid Through Community Partnerships with Dr. Kara Odom Walker · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

• 0:02
  This is where health insurance leadership comes together.
• 0:05
  Becker's fourth annual spring payer issues roundtable brings
• 0:08
  together over 400
• 0:10
  payer and health plan executives and more than
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  100 speakers to Chicago April.
• 0:16
  This year's event includes keynote conversations with the
• 0:19
  industry's top leaders and former president George w
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  Bush. For the full agenda and event details,
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  visit beckershospitalreview.com
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  and click on the events tab in the
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  upper right. We're looking forward to hosting you
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  here in Chicago.
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  Hi, everyone. This is Elizabeth Cassello with the
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  Becker's Payer Issues podcast.
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  I'm excited to be joined today by doctor
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  Kara Odom Walker, who recently became chief medical
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  officer for Aetna Medicaid. And we're gonna chat
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  about the insurer's collaboration with the National Association
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  of Community Health Centers. So doctor Walker, thank
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  you so much for joining us today. Thanks
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  for having me.
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  So before we jump in, I would love
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  to hear a bit more about you and
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  your health care career and your new role
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  at Aetna.
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  Thank you so much. I'm so excited to
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  join Aetna as CMO of Medicaid. It's an
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  opportunity to really blend the intersection
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  of clinical care and prior experiences I've had
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  on the provider side and also as a
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  state, secretary of health and social services and
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  defining solutions to transform health care at scale.
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  And Aetna is part of that journey. I'm
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  really excited about this partnership as well.
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  Yeah. So let's dive into the bulk of
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  it.
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  What prompted this collaboration, which is focused on
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  hypertension between Aetna and the National Association of
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  Community Health Centers, and why now?
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  So I'm so thrilled to share more about
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  the news of this collaboration.
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  Now more than ever, we need ways to
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  reach patients and communities
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  with the greatest opportunity to improve
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  disparities and hypertension outcomes.
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  I'm a family doctor by background. And as
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  a Aetna leader, I know the facts.
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  We know that uncontrolled hypertension
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  is a significant preventable cause of early death
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  and long term health issues
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  that can occur among our Medicaid members.
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  And I used to practice in a community
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  health center across the country from the East
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  Coast to the West Coast. It's a place
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  where we can make a huge impact as
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  doctors,
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  as a payer partner.
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  So working alongside
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  NAC, the National Association of Community Health Centers,
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  is a great opportunity for us. Us. We
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  know that community health centers are actually the
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  largest primary care system in The United States.
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  They serve one in seven Americans,
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  including some of the nation's most complicated patients
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  in the most underserved
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  and needed needy communities.
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  So we get to address together
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  not only the medical needs, but also the
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  other social needs that community health centers are
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  so great at. I remember,
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  taking care of patients who really needed us
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  to navigate to diapers and medicine and transportation
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  and the full range of things that we
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  know actually make people healthier.
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  So this is our opportunity. We know over
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  six million patients
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  had hypertension in 2024
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  And achieving better blood pressure control
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  in about,
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  two thirds of those patients is a huge
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  opportunity for us. That is actually
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  real scale results at scale in settings where
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  we need more than ever to address these
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  long term health consequences.
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  So
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  because of the success we know that community
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  health centers have to improve blood pressure control,
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  we at Aetna saw this opportunity
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  to collaborate,
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  to bring our data, and to improve blood
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  pressure control and deliver these value based outcomes
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  at scale across communities, urban, rural,
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  north, south, East, West. And we know that
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  these partnerships really matter. So
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  excited that together, we're gonna focus on regions
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  where the data has showed that we need
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  to address
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  the gaps in improving health outcomes. And we're
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  starting with four states,
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  Illinois,
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  Kentucky,
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  Michigan, and Virginia,
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  and really excited about, all the opportunities ahead.
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  So can you elaborate on why those states
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  and where you plan to expand if you
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  are planning on expanding?
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  Absolutely. So we know that these states have
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  the greatest need. And as part of our
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  engagement, we've already thought about which populations
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  have the greatest gaps
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  to improve those outcomes and also where we
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  can bring our skills, our data, our relationships
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  to bring
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  impact.
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  This initiative focuses in these four states because
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  we've seen the gaps are the widest, but
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  also we have strong partners
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  that we can work together to bring data,
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  tools, expertise.
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  And
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  once we find what works, we can create
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  scale around,
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  spreading what is
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  possible
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  and create even larger impact beyond those four
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  states in the future.
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  Makes a lot of sense.
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  So can you elaborate a bit more on
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  what you're seeing in terms of hypertension in
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  Aetna's Medicaid community,
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  and what health and cost outcomes you're hoping
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  to see through this partnership?
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  Absolutely. So we're starting with the data. You
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  know? The data is showing us where to
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  get started, and we're gonna leverage
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  our Aetna data and the Medicaid expertise we
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  have.
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  We this is just basic. Right? We start
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  with what works and then do more of
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  it so we can go beyond care that's
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  just about prescribing a medicine, but also lean
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  into all of the other community resources.
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  As I mentioned, we know there are so
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  many
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  people who need help
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  both with diagnosing
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  high blood pressure,
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  but also finding out how to manage it
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  better. And this is a daily journey. It
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  can include nutrition. It can include physical activity,
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  but also the medications and things that happen
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  in a doctor's office. We're excited that working
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  together with community health centers,
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  our collaboration can bring care
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  to where people live, to things that are
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  community informed,
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  and really, bring a whole suite of services
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  together.
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  Since community health centers do make up the
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  largest primary care health system in The United
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  States where 52,000,000
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  people are served, this is an opportunity for
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  scale and impact.
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  Community health centers bring together primary care, dental
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  care, behavioral health care, and we know those
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  factors actually influence blood pressure control. So how
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  do we work together?
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  I'm a family physician, and I have personally
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  taken care of many patients in community health
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  centers.
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  I've worked in the West Coast and East
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  Coast from Delaware to California and seen how
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  uninsured patients in local primary care settings often
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  don't know they have high blood pressure. And
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  I remember one of these patients distinctly.
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  They came in to see me, doctor Walker.
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  I just need these papers signed. I'm about
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  to start a new job. It's a great
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  opportunity
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  for me to have higher pay and better
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  benefits. Can you just check check these boxes?
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  And he really had no complaints and no
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  drama,
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  but he, unfortunately,
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  had come in in kind of a hurry.
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  And so we checked his blood pressure
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  and thought it must have been wrong. Sometimes
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  that means, as a doc, like, we have
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  to give them a moment, settle in, maybe
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  check with a proper size blood pressure cuff.
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  That happens sometimes.
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  So in this situation, I thought, we'll just
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  check it again.
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  Unfortunately, when we checked it again,
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  his blood pressure was still sky high, so
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  high that I was worried about risk of
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  stroke,
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  heart damage, and other consequences.
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  So we,
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  worked together in that moment, and he hadn't
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  really seen anyone in health care for years,
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  felt great, worked full time, and wanted to
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  think about these certifications.
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  So this is a situation that's very real.
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  It happens
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  all over
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  community health centers every day.
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  It's very common. Half of adults in The
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  US have high blood pressure, and one in
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  four don't know they have it. So our
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  work together isn't about technology
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  or how Aetna pays the bills, but it
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  is about how do we talk to people,
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  really think about what they need, and have
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  these ongoing relationships to improve their health, improve
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  blood pressure control, but also reduce heart attack,
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  strokes, and other consequences.
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  What early insights are you seeing? I know,
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  again, it is early on with this program.
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  And how are you reaching the Medicaid population
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  given challenges that may be specific,
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  to those populations?
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  Thanks, Liz. We're just getting started. So I
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  don't have a lot of details to show
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  about the early opportunities,
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  but I would say we have a
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  starting place that comes to a common understanding
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  around how important it is to focus on
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  this issue
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  and that there are barriers to care, barriers
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  around access, getting appointments,
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  social issues,
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  thinking about food insecurity.
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  You know, I, again, remember patients who said,
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  well, I've been really taking that blood pressure
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  pill, doctor Walker,
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  but, you know, I can't figure out how
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  to get my blood pressure to get lower.
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  And we did a a review of what
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  they were eating every day, trying to make
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  sure they had healthy options,
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  realizing the cans of vegetables had a lot
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  of sodium.
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  And that was what we needed to unlock
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  blood pressure control at a better level. And
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  so these are the barriers we're going to
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  find. Community health centers bring that community lens,
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  that community voice, and they're deeply embedded to
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  figure out how to make sure we're talking
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  in the ways that resonate with patients, that
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  they feel like they actually can put their
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  health
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  into their own hands. This collaboration is exciting,
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  and we're looking forward to sharing results in
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  the future.
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  That's a really interesting insight about the food.
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  And pivoting away from hypertension,
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  what other conditions
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  is the Aetna Medicaid team thinking about collaborating
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  on going forward?
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  So we're focused on high blood pressure. High
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  blood pressure seems
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  maybe common, easy, and happening
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  in so many, patients' lives that it should
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  be easy. I will say
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  right now, it is our focus.
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  Aetna Medicaid is committed to the health and
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  well-being of our members, And so we're thinking
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  about expanding in other places. But first, thinking
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  about heart health as a major opportunity
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  is where high blood pressure fits in. So
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  think about it. Three in four adults enrolled
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  in Medicaid have one or more chronic conditions,
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  not just high blood pressure, but others. So
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  we're gonna work together around how the whole
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  care team can come together to design a
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  plan that's right for them and allow them
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  to think about the chronic conditions that may
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  exist. That could be blood pressure, but then
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  it could build on diabetes,
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  obesity,
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  other chronic conditions that are present.
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  So we're starting with hypertension because it does
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  lead to other things. And, again, preventing heart
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  attacks, preventing stroke, preventing other long term outcomes.
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  It actually improves your
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  your joint pain as well, and so it
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  is something that we can focus on. We
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  know that, in in looking at the total
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  cost, it also stands out as something that
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  we can make an impact on. In April
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  2025, we saw that hypertension related health care
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  costs totaled
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  over a $100,000,000.
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  This is a place where we can start.
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  I would say once we get that underway
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  and start to see outcomes that matter in
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  different communities,
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  we'd love to start dreaming big. Maybe we
• 11:44
  work on maternal health together because we know
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  that maternal health today is something that we
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  we can do so much more to make
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  sure,
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  future moms have
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  the right health care access from pregnancy
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  to birth, and we'll find things that are
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  working for hypertension, but then can apply to
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  better prenatal care and taking care of moms
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  and babies in the future.
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  This will let us think about how to
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  partner, how to bring the best evidence,
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  but also bring our tools around data and
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  overcoming other barriers. And some of that is
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  around
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  access to primary care. But then we can
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  think about how does nutrition,
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  transportation,
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  housing, and stability also play a role in
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  those rates.
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  And a little shameless plug to our listeners.
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  I did just do a podcast on maternal
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  health initiatives with Medicaid programs. So if you
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  are more curious about that, we have some
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  recordings available there.
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  But, doctor Walker, as we wrap up, I
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  would love to hear any final final takeaways
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  you have for other Medicaid leaders and also
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  broader insurance leaders, and also any thoughts as
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  you're settling into your role at Aetna.
• 12:52
  Well, I'm so excited to be part of
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  a team that has
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  commitments to work with partners
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  in communities of need. And we know that
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  controlling blood pressure is one of the places
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  where we can create the highest level of
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  return on health and outcomes,
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  particularly for patients on Medicaid.
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  Right now, we are just thrilled to lean
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  in with this partnership with NAC to improve
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  health and health impact.
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  Community health centers and primary care providers are
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  the backbone of how we provide care across
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  the country.
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  And they've already proven outcomes in hypertension control.
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  So this is a chance for us at
• 13:29
  Aetna to make an impact.
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  For me personally,
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  this is a chance for us to think
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  about scaling and broadening that through partnership,
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  addressing the social drivers of health, and improving
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  not only quality, but also equity and total
• 13:46
  cost of care.
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  I'm excited about the collaboration because we know
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  we are open to future collaborations
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  no matter what sector to make everyone healthier.
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  Doctor Walker, thank you so much for taking
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  the time and joining us today. Thank you,
• 14:00
  Liz. Great to see you. Yeah. Great to
• 14:02
  see you as well. And to our listeners,
• 14:04
  if you'd like to listen to more Becker's
• 14:06
  Healthcare podcasts, you can visit beckershospitalreview.com.
• 14:10
  Thank you.