RURAL HEALTH: Blue Cross Awarded $1.5 Million Grant
The Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board has awarded Blue Cross of California a $1.5 million grant to help increase access to health care for children of seasonal and migrant farm workers and Native Americans. Blue Cross will use the grant to support 20 projects, including funding mobile medical vans, additional providers and additional hours of operation for clinics heavily used by farm workers and Native Americans. "Access to quality health care is vital. This grant is critical and will enable us to establish and expand programs that will improve access to care for communities that have been medically underserved due to limited access," said John Monahan, general manager for Blue Cross' Medi-Cal and Healthy Families programs. Nearly one-fourth (22%) of the grant will be allocated to three Indian clinics through the California Rural Indian Health Board and 38% will benefit clinics that comprise the Central Valley Health Network in San Joaquin Valley. The grant comes on the heels of another $1.8 million grant Blue Cross was awarded late last year to establish a telemedicine program in rural communities (Blue Cross release, 1/11).
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