Schwarzenegger Announces $25M in Grants for Health IT
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) on Wednesday announced the availability of $25 million in grants to fund health information technology projects throughout California.
Funds for the grants stem from the 2005 merger of UnitedHealth Group and California-based PacifiCare Health Systems (Office of the Governor release, 8/22).
As a condition of approval for the merger, California regulators required UnitedHealth to provide $50 million in charitable contributions, as well as $200 million in investments, to improve services for low-income California residents with limited access to health care (California Healthline, 12/20/05).
Projects eligible for the grants could include IT upgrades for rural health clinics, critical access hospitals, county health departments and other safety net providers; preventive health care; or medical education.
The Department of Managed Health Care will post applications for the grants on its Web site. Awards will be administered through a competitive bid process (Office of the Governor release, 8/22).