Blue Cross foundation awards local grants
The Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation said today that it has awarded $1.95 million in grants to 17 health care delivery organizations working to implement more cost-effective care for the uninsured through outreach and education, prevention, and medical management.
The grants range from $55,000 to $95,000, the foundation said.
"State residents who remain uninsured despite the historic gains made under the state's 2006 health reform law still need access to care," Jarrett T. Barrios, president of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation, said in a statement. "By funding these organizations, we are furthering the mission of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation, which is to expand health care access for all residents of the Commonwealth."
In a separate press release, the foundation added that it has awarded $485,000 in grants to 22 community-based organizations, community health centers, and select hospital-based programs to help low-income consumers enroll in MassHealth, Commonwealth Care, the Health Safety Net, and other public and private health access programs and connect with providers. The grants range from $20,000 to $25,000.
A foundation spokeswoman said in an e-mail that the foundation plans to announce another $635,000 in grants shortly; those grants aim to promote the health interests of uninsured and low-income residents in such communities as Amherst, Boston, Fitchburg, Holyoke, Leominster, and Worcester.
The foundation was founded in 2001 with an initial endowment of $55 million from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts; the endowment has since grown to $108 million. The foundation describes its mission as expanding access to health care.
To read the foundation's first press release, which lists grant recipients, please click here.
To read the foundation's second press release, please click here.
To read a front page story in this morning's Globe about Blue Cross Blue Shield, please click here.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
