A lack of investment in mental healthcare has taken nearly 117,000 lives and cost the U.S. $278 billion from 2016 to 2020, a Sept. 8 report from the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Atlanta-based Morehouse School of Medicine found.

Some transgender patients are denied reimubrsements for gender-affirming care by insurers because of diagnostic coding, according to a Kaiser Health News report. 

The American Medical Association's Women Physicians Section and the AMA Foundation have selected the recipients of their annual research grants program, according to a Sept. 7 news release. 

Health equity has been on the forefront of Joyce Sackey's, MD, mind since a very young age. Growing up in Ghana, she observed an uneven distribution of and access to healthcare, which stimulated both her drive to help others and an interest in medicine.

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and the Arkansas health department are partnering to address unconscious biases in healthcare workers, using a $600,000 grant from the CDC. 

Here are six health equity studies that Becker's has covered since June 24: 

Three researchers from the Brown School and the School of Medicine at Washington University in St. Louis received a $6.1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health Sept. 1 to study maternal health.

Health systems play an important role in helping Black communities build wealth, according to a Sept. 1 analysis in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Advancing health equity is a top priority for nearly all health systems, but making progress can be complicated. Becker's Hospital Review recently spoke with Melissa Sherry, Vice President of Social Care Integration at Unite Us, about challenges and opportunities related to adopting health equity services at scale.

Here are six health equity investments over $10 million that Becker's has covered since July 25:

HHS, through the Health Resources and Services Administration, announced on Aug. 29 an investment of more than $20 million for initiatives aiming to improve maternal and infant health. 

Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Novant Health and the Novant Health Foundation invested $25.5 million since January 2020 toward community impact and health equity initiatives across North Carolina, according to an Aug. 29 news release.

Black patients suffering from long COVID-19 are experiencing difficulties getting treatment despite comprising the brunt of cases and hospitalizations, NBC News reported Aug. 28.

CVS Health will invest $10.5 million to build 50 supportive housing units in Cleveland as part of its commitment to addressing health equity. 

A $3 million donation from the Chen Family Foundation will fund further research into health equity at the University of Miami and the Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine. 

Boston Mountain Rural Health partnered with the city of Harrison, Ark., and its special committee on homelessness to address concerns in the city, according to an Aug. 23 report from KSRP.

The North Carolina Medicaid office launched the first-of-its-kind program in March to encourage people to pursue a healthy lifestyle rather than only paying for care when an individual is sick. However, an Aug. 24 report in North Carolina Health News indicates that growing pains come with the new territory.

The National Committee for Quality Assurance named Bryan O. Buckley, DrPH, as its new director of health equity initiatives Aug. 23.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom introduced a new policy to continue providing government-funded healthcare coverage for about 40,000 low-income adults living in the U.S. illegally, according to an Aug. 22 report from ABC News.

The public health sector needs to provide nurses with resources to more comprehensively address and advocate for health equity, Tarissa Host wrote for the MinnPost Aug. 22.