Becker’s Payer Issues Podcast Tackling Hypertension in Medicaid Through Community Partnerships with Dr. Kara Odom Walker
Mar 9, 2026
Dr. Kara Odom Walker, Aetna Medicaid Chief Medical Officer and family physician with public health leadership, outlines a community-centered push to control hypertension. She discusses partnering with community health centers, using data to target care, addressing social drivers like food insecurity, and scaling successful models across states to reduce disparities.
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Hypertension Is A High-Impact Target In Medicaid
- Uncontrolled hypertension is a preventable major driver of early death and chronic complications in Medicaid populations.
- Aetna and NACHC leverage community health centers' scale (serve 1 in 7 Americans) to target disparities across urban and rural settings.
Community Health Centers Offer Clinical And Social Leverage
- Community health centers are the largest primary care system and reach complex, underserved patients where social needs affect health.
- Partnering with them lets payers address social drivers like transportation, diapers, and medication access alongside clinical care.
Pilot States Chosen For Need And Partner Strength
- The pilot focuses first on Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, and Virginia because data shows the widest gaps and because strong local partners exist.
- Success in these states will inform scaling to additional states and communities.