Blue Shield of California Foundation Awards Funds for Kids’ Coverage
On Thursday, the Blue Shield of California Foundation announced $7.75 million in new grants to subsidize premiums for Healthy Kids programs statewide, the San Francisco Business Times reports.
Local Children's Health Initiatives administer Healthy Kids programs, which provide health insurance for children ages six to 18. The programs are open to children from households with annual incomes that do not exceed 300% of the federal poverty level who are not eligible for other public health insurance efforts.
The grants will provide subsidies for as many as 7,000 children for 19 months.
Other Awards
The grants are part of more than $10 million in grants the Blue Shield of California Foundation will award for the first quarter of 2009.
In addition to the Healthy Kids grants, the foundation will provide $998,000 to AmericaSpeaks as part of an effort to increase public participation in the health care debate and $1.4 million for a network of domestic violence centers (Rauber, San Francisco Business Times, 2/26). This is part of the California Healthline Daily Edition, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.