RELEASE
Michigan Organizations Receive More Than $470,000 in Grants to Improve Health Care in Michigan
Blues Perspectives
| 3 min read
The grants awarded by the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation are as diverse and unique as the people they’re intended to help - people recovering from substance use disorder, people living with dementia, their caregivers and the most vulnerable among us – premature and medically-fragile infants, to name a few. What the $474,360 in grants being awarded have in common is the support they’ll provide numerous research and community programs that identify and address critical issues affecting the health of Michigan residents. “We’re proud to work with individuals and organizations advocating for affordable, quality health care in their communities,” said Audrey Harvey, vice president and CEO of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation. “This grant funding will support programs and research that touch everything from infant care to senior health, among many other topics and health needs.” The grants offered by the Blue Cross Foundation are categorized to allow for a variety of applicants and ideas, including:
- Community Health Matching Programs: Community-based nonprofit organizations in Michigan will use these grants to develop, test or validate new techniques and programs to address the needs of its community members and produce a tangible effect in their lives.
- Physician Investigator Research Award Programs: Michigan physicians will use these grants to conduct pilot projects and/or small research studies to address unmet health needs to improve the delivery and quality of patient care.
- Investigator Initiated Research Award Programs: This program provides researchers employed by universities and hospitals an average of $50,000 in grants. The expectation is that that the funding will support getting the researcher’s work published to share among other Michigan researchers and medical professionals to improve the cost and quality of care for Michigan residents.
The BCBSM Foundation gives nearly $2 million each year in grants to improve the cost, quality and access to health care. The funding encompasses the state, from Metro Detroit to the communities of the Upper Peninsula. None of the money comes from the premium payments of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan members. The BCBSM Foundation was created in 1980 with $800,000 in seed money, which has since grown to approximately $60 million in assets with no further contributions. An overview of the recipients of the BCBSM Foundation grants is below:
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, a nonprofit mutual insurance company and the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation are independent licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. BCBSM provides and administers health benefits to more than 4.6 million members residing in Michigan in addition to employees of Michigan-headquartered companies who reside outside the state. In 2018, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan received the J.D. Power Award for “Highest Member Satisfaction Among Commercial Health Plans in Michigan.” For more company information, visit bcbsm.com and MiBluesPerspectives.com. Photo Credit: Matt Madd via Flickr
