Excellus BlueCross BlueShield (Excellus BCBS) on Monday said nonprofit organizations to apply for 2023 Health Equity Innovation Award (HEIA) funding.
The awards help pay for health and wellness programs that address racial and ethnic health disparities in upstate New York. Nonprofits can apply for funding up to $30,000.
The online application period is now open and continues through 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, Sept.14, per the Excellus BCBS announcement. Excellus will announce award winners in late October.
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“Excellus BlueCross BlueShield Health Equity Innovation Award funding aims to support initiatives, programs, and research that specifically target and address the root causes of health inequities, with a focus on addressing structural racism,” Dr. Lisa Harris, Excellus BCBS senior vice president and chief medical officer, said in the news release. “We believe that by investing in projects that tackle the underlying social, economic, and systematic factors that contribute to health disparities, we can work towards creating a more just and equitable healthcare system.”
Excellus will consider application proposals for initiatives or projects that have “proven data outcomes and can be expanded.” Proposals must include “clear, defined” goals for reducing health disparities and the burden of health inequities and social disadvantages, Excellus said. It will require organizations to specify how funding will “measurably” assist in improving racial and ethnic health-equity outcomes.
Health Equity Innovation Award categories include, but are not limited to:
Reducing health disparities in racial, ethnic, LGBTQIA+ communities; people with disabilities; people living in rural or urban communities; or other groups of people that may be at a higher health risk for medical issues and conditions (chronic or acute); behavioral health or mental health conditions; and negative outcomes from the above, including death or suicide.
Excellus BlueCross BlueShield operates in 31 upstate New York counties organized into four regions: the Central New York region, which includes Cayuga, Cortland, Onondaga, Oswego and Tompkins counties; the Southern Tier region, including Broome, Chemung, Chenango, Tioga, Schuyler and Steuben counties; and the Utica region, comprising Clinton, Delaware, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Madison, Montgomery, Oneida, Otsego and St. Lawrence counties; and the Rochester region, encompassing Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Seneca, Wayne and Yates counties;.
The application portal to apply for the Health Equity Innovation Award funding can be found here.
