Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation Awards $1.6 Million in Grants.

Business Editors

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 13, 2001

The Foundation releases new report on uninsured in Massachusetts

Journalism Fellowship Program announced

The Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation today awarded $1.6 million in grants to 47 organizations to spark innovation and strengthen services and policy initiatives for uninsured and low-income individuals and families in Massachusetts. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (BCBSMA), the not-for-profit health insurer, created its new foundation earlier this year.

The Foundation also released a report on the uninsured, and announced the creation of a new fellowship program for Massachusetts journalists.

The report, Life on the Edge of the Health Care System: The Growing Problem of The Uninsured in Massachusetts, documents the medical, financial and human consequences of living without insurance. Through profiles of individuals, families, and caregivers, the report also highlights the gaps in the health care safety net in Massachusetts.

The journalism program, called The Health Coverage Fellowship, is directed by former Boston Globe medical reporter Larry Tye. The program will offer an intensive nine-day training in health and medical issues for 10 Massachusetts print and broadcast journalists. Applicants will be reviewed by a panel of current and former journalists.

"Through our grants, reports and programs we hope to expand access to health care and encourage a renewed debate about how to provide health security for everyone living in Massachusetts," said Foundation Board Chair Philip W. Johnston.

The Foundation awarded one-year grants, ranging from $10,000 to $75,000, in three areas:

-- Eighteen organizations received a total of $900,000 to support coordinated
care for the uninsured. Funding ranged from start-up support to St. Francis
House in Boston for a new approach to health care for homeless individuals to
the expansion of existing programs that combine outreach, volunteer physicians,
and hospital and clinic services to treat the uninsured in North Adams, Gardner
and Fall River.

-- Twelve organizations received a total of $465,000 to increase citizen
participation in policy development and advocacy. Funded agencies include the
Massachusetts Immigration and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA) to reduce
barriers to health care for new immigrants in Central and Southeastern
Massachusetts and Mass. Senior Action Council to increase civic activism in
efforts to lower the cost of prescription drugs.

-- Seventeen organizations received a total of $250,000 in grants that help
low-income consumers - especially new MassHealth members - connect with needed
health care services. Programs include an innovative school nurse program in
the Lynn Public Schools and an outreach program targeting the growing Latino
and Brazilian community in the Framingham area.

One grant recipient described the positive impact of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation. "With the current recession, the timing of the Foundation's statewide initiative is crucial," said Charles Joffe-Halpern, director of Ecu-Health Care in North Adams, which received a $50,000 grant. "Programs like ours are under great stress. With these funds, we will be able to reach more uninsured residents and make sure they get the health care they need."

"This is a critical time to invest in organizations that serve the uninsured," said Foundation President Andrew Dreyfus. "A weakened economy, rising health costs, and state and federal budget problems will likely increase the number of people without health insurance in Massachusetts."

The Foundation is governed by its own 17-member Board of Directors, and operates separately from the company. BCBSMA committed an initial $55 million endowment over four years. The Foundation is one of the largest health philanthropies in Massachusetts. The Foundation website is www.bcbsmafoundation.org.