Funds Will Be Used to Provide Health Care to Underserved Populations
MILWAUKEE, June 23 /PRNewswire/ — Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation, the charitable giving arm of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Wisconsin, today announced a $99,000 grant to the Milwaukee Health Care Partnership to provide health care services to low-income, uninsured, underinsured, and medically underserved populations in Milwaukee. The funds will be shared among three Community Health Centers (CHCs): the Sixteenth Street Community Health Center, Westside Healthcare Association, and Health Care for the Homeless.
The Milwaukee Health Care Partnership will use the grant to advance its “medical home” service delivery model, which helps patients establish an ongoing relationship with a primary care provider to improve continuity of care and enable patients to better manage their own health.
“The Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation is committed to improving the health of our communities,” said Steve Martenet, president of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Wisconsin. “These grant funds will help individuals receive the care they need so they can lead happier, healthier lives. We support the excellent work of the Milwaukee Health Care Partnership and its allies, who are creating positive outcomes for all those they serve.”
Defined in federal statute, CHCs are neighborhood-based health centers which provide medical, dental, behavioral and preventive health services to underserved populations in their service area and the community. There are four CHCs in Milwaukee County, 17 across Wisconsin and 3,800 CHC service sites nationwide. The Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation has a history of supporting the CHC delivery model. Last year, the Foundation donated $101,500 to the Milwaukee Health Services CHC in support of their diabetes patient prescription and supply project.
In addition to health care, the three CHCs supported by the grant provide a full array of enabling and support services — such as social work, transportation, financial counseling, language interpretation, and prevention education — which address medical and non-medical factors that impact health status and outcomes and help patients navigate the complexities of the health and human services delivery system. Each CHC provides eligibility screening and application assistance for Medicaid, BadgerCare, General Assistance Medical Program and other government programs to help individuals access the care they need.
“Patients who receive care from a consistent location and provider time after time create a relationship and health history, and can more effectively manage their health care needs in contrast to those who seek episodic services from an emergency department,” said Joy Tapper, director of the Milwaukee Health Care Partnership. “This continuity allows us to help patients manage their own health and establish treatment and care management plans for chronic diseases or other serious medical conditions such as diabetes, asthma, congestive heart failure, pregnancy, or mental illness.
“We thank the Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation for their generous support of our efforts to provide higher quality, cost effective care and better outcomes for patients.”
About Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation
Through charitable grant making, the Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation LLC, an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, promotes Anthem’s inherent commitment to enhance the health and well-being of individuals and families in communities that Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield serves. The Foundation focuses its funding on strategic initiatives that address and provide innovative solutions to reduce the number of uninsured as well as organizations and nonprofit charities that promote the Healthy Generations Program, a multi-generational initiative that targets specific disease states and medical conditions. These include: prenatal care in the first trimester, low birth weight babies, cardiac morbidity rates, long term activities that decrease obesity and increase physical activity, diabetes prevalence in adult populations, adult pneumococcal and influenza vaccinations and smoking cessation. The Foundation also coordinates the company’s annual associate giving campaign and its parent foundation provides a 50 percent match of associates’ campaign pledges. (R)ANTHEM is a registered trademark of Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc. The Blue Cross and Blue Shield names and symbols are registered marks of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. To learn more about the Foundation please visit www.wellpointfoundation.org .
In Wisconsin, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield is the trade name used by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Wisconsin (“BCBSWi”) and Compcare Health Services Insurance Corporation (“Compcare”), independent licensees of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. (R)ANTHEM is a registered trademark of Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc. The Blue Cross and Blue Shield names and symbols are registered marks of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Additional information about Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Wisconsin is available at www.anthem.com .
About the Milwaukee Health Care Partnership
The Milwaukee Health Care Partnership is a public-private consortium sponsored by five Milwaukee health systems, four community health centers, State of Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services, and Milwaukee County Department of Health and Human Services. It has developed and is overseeing the implementation of a community-wide plan for improving coverage, access and care coordination for uninsured and underinsured individuals and to reduce the cost of care for this population. Other organizations involved in the consortium plan include the Medical College of Wisconsin, the Milwaukee County Medical Society, City of Milwaukee Health Department, and Free Clinic Coalition.
About Community Health Centers
Wisconsin’s Community Health Centers (including Migrant Health Centers and Healthcare for the Homeless Programs) have been the backbone of the state’s health care safety net for more than 25 years. Independent non-profit agencies, Community Health Centers are located in neighborhoods that have been identified as “medically underserved.” They are governed by Boards of Directors controlled by individuals who are themselves users of the services of the Centers, and provide services regardless of peoples’ ability to pay, in the language of community residents and with respect for cultural values. In 2007 the 17 Community, Migrant and Homeless Health Centers in Wisconsin provided care for more than 177,000 people. The four CHCs in Milwaukee cared for nearly 70,000 people in 2007.
First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:
Source: Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation
CONTACT: Scott Larrivee, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation,
+1-262-523-4746, scott.larrivee@bcbswi.com
Web site: http://www.anthem.com/
http://www.wellpointfoundation.org/
