Blue Shield of California Foundation Awards Nearly $4 Million to Nonprofits to Improve Health Care Access, Quality

$1.95 Million Goes to Support Research in Health and Technology

San Francisco, August 28, 2007 – Blue Shield of California Foundation (BSCF) today announced grants totaling $3.98 million. The grants are part of the Foundation’s work to expand access to health care and coverage, support the use of health technology, and promote healthy relationships.

“As we await legislative action in Sacramento on comprehensive healthcare reform, we at Blue Shield of California Foundation will continue our efforts to strengthen the safety net and support health technology innovation,” said BSCF President and CEO Crystal Hayling.

Today’s grants represent the third quarter of BSCF’s 2007 grantmaking, which now totals $22.6 million for the year. In 2006, the Foundation awarded $27.1 million in grants and allocated more than $1 million to additional program activities that support its strategic goals – including public education materials, forums and convenings, and commissioned research.

Highlights from today’s grants announcement include:

$1.95 million to support research in health and technology. This funding will support several advances in medical decision making based on research, including a National Academy of Sciences collaborative to develop new approaches to gathering and communicating evidence for clinical decision making, and to researchers assessing the cost and clinical effectiveness of new technologies to treat problems like prostate cancer. In addition, these dollars will support policy development for medical decisions guided by genetics.

$1.86 million to strengthen California’s community clinic safety net. Among other efforts, these grants provide funding to ensure that the consumer voice is heard in local health coverage expansion efforts in San Mateo County and provide funding to build the capacity of safety net providers to participate in the One-e-App online enrollment program in Fresno County.

$173,000 to reduce the incidence of teen dating violence through technology and education programs. Funding supports three California programs working to promote healthy relationships by using new technologies and interactive counseling to defuse relationship conflict.

Blue Shield of California Foundation is one of the largest health care grant-making organizations in California. For more information, please visit the Web site at www.blueshieldcafoundation.org. The Foundation was formed by Blue Shield of California, a not-for-profit corporation with more than 3.2 million members, 4,300 employees and 20 offices throughout California. For more information about the company, please visit www.mylifepath.com.