$25 million available for technology improvements, medical education, disease prevention and coordinated care – all focused on underserved populations and improvements in health care delivery
CYPRESS, Calif. (Aug. 23, 2007) – As part of its ongoing commitment to California, UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) and PacifiCare today announced they will fund $25 million in new grants to benefit health care consumers and improve the delivery of health care services in the Golden State.
UnitedHealth Group and PacifiCare will begin accepting applications from qualified organizations for grants ranging from $100,000 to as much as $5 million each.
“UnitedHealth Group and PacifiCare are committed to investing in a healthier California,” said David Hansen, CEO, Pacific Region of UnitedHealthcare. “We do this by striving to provide insurance products that ensure the highest quality of care and also through substantial charitable giving that improves the health care delivery system for everyone, including underserved populations.”
The $25 million in UnitedHealth Group /PacifiCare grants, to be distributed over the next three years, will fall under several different categories, including:
- technology improvements for safety-net providers;
- medical education programs in traditionally underserved communities;
- population-based preventive health strategies;
- support for Coordinated Care Initiatives – research and informational activities about health care delivery within the coordinated care model in California; and
- cash or in-kind contributions to help establish and support health care information technology initiatives designed to improve health care delivery.
These new grants are part of PacifiCare/UnitedHealth Group’s commitments to California made in association with UnitedHealth Group’s acquisition of PacifiCare in 2005. The grants and their identified uses are well-aligned with PacifiCare/UnitedHealth Group’s historic and ongoing charitable giving in California.
UnitedHealth Group, for example, last year committed $10 million to University of California Riverside and University of California Merced for the creation of medical and health science education programs at the two campuses, and for hiring of administrative, teaching and support staff needed to establish course work and classes for the programs.
UnitedHealth Group’s grants are intended to help address the significant future shortages of health care professionals predicted by the 2005 University of California study “Health Science Education, Workforce Needs and Enrollment Planning,” which identified the Southern Central Valley and the Inland Empire as particularly subject to future health care work force shortages and medically underserved populations.
In addition, UnitedHealth Group/PacifiCare funds health education scholarships through the Latino Health Scholars program. Since 2003, the Latino Health Scholars program has awarded $556,000 to 232 students nationwide looking to pursue careers in health care. Asian Americans and African Americans pursuing careers in health care also have benefited from scholarships through the Asian-American and African American Scholars programs.
Another UnitedHealth Group program, the UnitedHealthcare Children’s Foundation has already helped more than 375 families with nearly $1 million in financial assistance for medical services not fully covered by health insurance.
The first round of proposal applications for the newest UnitedHealth Group /PacifiCare grants are being accepted from Aug. 27 through Oct. 12, 2007. The first awards will be made in December. Three more proposal periods are planned, with the next beginning in January of 2008.
