Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation Awards $3.1 Million in 2003.Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 22, 2004 The Blue Cross Blue Shield Blue Shield A US not-for-profit health care insurer that is a reimbursement intermediary for physicians. Cf Blue Cross. of Massachusetts Massachusetts (măsəch  `sĭts), most populous of the New England states of the NE United States. Foundation (BCBSMA BCBSMA Bluecross Blueshield of Massachusetts Foundation) awarded $3.1 million in grants last year, to help 106 Massachusetts organizations from the Berkshires to Boston expand access to care for uninsured and low-income residents, reduce the barriers created by linguistic and cultural differences, and provide children and their families with more accessible, community-based mental health services health services Managed care The benefits covered under a health contract and support. "As the Foundation approaches its third year anniversary, our investments in organizations that serve the uninsured are more critical than ever," said Foundation president Andrew Dreyfus. "Despite a slowly rebounding economy, the number of uninsured continues to increase while state and federal funding resources remain scarce." Each year, the Foundation awards grants in five major categories using specific grant guidelines guidelines, n.pl a set of standards, criteria, or specifications to be used or followed in the performance of certain tasks. . The major program areas and the 2003 grant totals are: Innovation Fund for the Uninsured- $890,000- The Innovation Fund supports health care delivery organizations to improve the continuity and completeness of care for the uninsured. Connecting Consumers with Care- $270,000- Connecting Consumers builds on community outreach Outreach is an effort by an organization or group to connect its ideas or practices to the efforts of other organizations, groups, specific audiences or the general public. efforts by supporting enhanced eligibility assistance and post-enrollment counseling for MassHealth applicants who experience difficulty meeting all documentation requirements and members who need assistance connecting with a provider. Strengthening the Voice for Access- $440,000- "Voices" grants are awarded to Massachusetts organizations for strengthening community-based policy activities, increased citizen participation in public policy development, and collaboration Working together on a project. See collaborative software. among policy and advocacy organizations on health access issues. Pathways to Culturally Competent Care- $579,000- Pathways funds efforts to promote access to culturally competent health care for uninsured, low-income populations with diverse cultural and linguistic differences. Preference is given to health care organizations in partnership with community-based organizations. Building Bridges in Children's Mental Health- $750,000- The first year of program implementation grants were awarded to 15 community collaborations to identify, assess and treat children with mental health needs where they live. The goal of Building Bridges is to improve services for children with mental health needs by enhancing the capacity of existing community organizations to provide those services and better support the families. The collaborations were awarded planning grants in 2002. In addition, the Foundation issued $120,000 in special grants for policy projects, and $41,000 in capacity-building mini-grants through the Catalyst Fund. The Catalyst Fund is supported exclusively through contributions from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts' associates. Since its inception in 2001, the BCBSMA Foundation (www.bcbsmafoundation.org) has awarded grants of $7.6 million to spark spark, in electricity: see arc. (language) SPARK - An annotated subset of Ada supported by tools supplied by Praxis Critical Systems (originally by PVL). http://sparkada.com. innovation and strengthen services for uninsured and low-income individuals and families in Massachusetts. The Foundation is governed gov·ern v. gov·erned, gov·ern·ing, gov·erns v.tr. 1. To make and administer the public policy and affairs of; exercise sovereign authority in. 2. by its own 17-member Board of Directors, and operates separately from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. BCBSMA committed an initial endowment A transfer, generally as a gift, of money or property to an institution for a particular purpose. The bestowal of money as a permanent fund, the income of which is to be used for the benefit of a charity, college, or other institution. of $55 million, making the Foundation one of the largest health philanthropies in Massachusetts. |
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