Blue Shield of California Foundation to Help More Counties Cover Uninsured Californians
New grants will help counties take advantage of expanded Medi-Cal in 2011
San Francisco, December 8, 2010 — Today Blue Shield of California Foundation (BSCF) announced that it is investing $1.7 million to help 10 additional counties develop plans for expanding coverage to low-income Californians in 2011, as a head start to implementing new coverage options under the federal health reform law that go into effect in 2014.
Specifically, the Foundation’s grants will help counties develop coverage programs that qualify for additional federal funding under a newly-expanded Medi-Cal program. Participating counties include: Contra Costa, Kern, Los Angeles, Monterey, Orange, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Joaquin, San Mateo, and Stanislaus.
“California has an opportunity to bring health care to those who need it most, and counties will be at the forefront of the expansion,” said Peter Long, president and CEO of BSCF. “We have supported California’s efforts to expand coverage for many years, and we are proud to act as an ally for counties working to take full advantage of this opportunity.”
Last month, Governor Schwarzenegger announced a new Section 1115 Medicaid waiver agreement that will bring up to $10 billion in federal resources to expand health coverage and improve care for low-income, legal residents over the next five years. The new waiver will allow any county to obtain federal funds to create or expand local health coverage programs by enabling the county to get matching federal Medicaid funds for the county’s existing indigent care funding. In total, the waiver agreement could help the state cover as many as 400,000 uninsured Californians.
“Our recently approved waiver offers a great opportunity for counties to improve and expand the services they provide to their uninsured low-income residents,” said Department of Health Care Services Director David Maxwell-Jolly. “The Foundation grants provide the resources counties will need to develop innovative plans that make the most of this new opportunity.”
The new planning grants will allow counties to qualify for federal funds to support the enrollment of low-income adults into coverage programs that counties must create or expand under the terms of the new Section 1115 waiver. To develop a program, counties will have to demonstrate to the state their ability to deliver integrated and coordinated care to this population. These grants will assist counties in adopting best practices for creating coverage expansion programs and for coordinating care across different safety net services. The grants will also help counties make the transition to providing better coordinated primary and specialty care to patients who now get episodic care, at best.
The Foundation awarded similar grants to 12 other counties earlier this fall. In total, the 22 counties receiving planning grants include 88 percent of the state’s population and the vast majority of the uninsured.
“Recently the County of San Diego approved an innovative, ten-year plan to build better health of the entire region. In partnership with our hospitals, clinics, physicians, consumer advocates, universities and community-based agencies, we are aggressively pursuing meaningful service delivery reform with great emphasis on improving the quality, access, and cost of community health,” said Nick Macchione, director of the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency. “We are excited to receive this grant as it will help us expand on the progress we are making in linking more people who are uninsured to quality health care.”
About Blue Shield of California Foundation
Blue Shield of California Foundation is one of the state’s largest healthcare grantmaking organizations. Visit: www.blueshieldcafoundation.org.
The Foundation was formed by Blue Shield of California, a not-for-profit corporation with more than 3.4 million members, 4,800 employees, and 20 offices throughout California. Visit www.blueshieldca.com.