Applications open at 10 a.m. on Thursday, February 17, 2022, and close at 5 p.m. on Thursday, March 17, 2022.
 

Awards Criteria

We encourage applicants to propose new and innovative ways to improve health.

Community Health Award proposals must address the following areas:

Social Determinants of Health, Racial and Ethnic Disparities

Improve individual and population health and reduce ethnic and racial disparities by investing in programs which improve health by impacting:

• Economic stability – food availability and security, healthcare workforce development
• Education access and quality – early childhood education and development, enrollment in higher education, high school graduation, language and literacy
• Social and community support – caregiver, youth mentorship, reintegration
• Healthcare access and quality – access to healthcare, access to primary care, health insurance coverage, health literacy (health education), healthcare provider pipeline programs
• Neighborhood and built environment – neighborhood crime and violence (including domestic violence and bullying), availability and quality of housing, access to transportation
• Racial, ethnic, and cultural competency – educational initiatives to address bias, discrimination, and racialized medicine

Clinical Health Improvement Priorities

Support programs with considerations for community need and impact on quality gap closure, focusing on:

• Behavioral health – mental health, substance abuse, follow-up care, medication management
• Women’s health – breast cancer, chlamydia, cervical cancer, maternal health including one-year postpartum
• Chronic condition management – diabetes and cardiovascular diseases including hypertension
• Preventative care – mammograms and colonoscopy
• Well child visits
• Osteoporosis and fall prevention

Application Rules/Requirements

• Proposals that are aligned with the above focus areas, have detailed scope, goals, rationale for support, and measures will be given priority
• Applicants must be charitable organizations located in a participating region
• Applications must be received on or before 5 p.m. on Thursday, March 17, 2022
• Excellus BCBS does not fund political activities and/or capital campaigns
• Recipients will be announced mid-May

Application Available: Year Round

Application Rules/Requirements:

• Applicants must be charitable organizations located in a participating region.

• Excellus BlueCross BlueShield will not fund support to programs involving political activities, endowments, or capital campaigns;

• Requests to fund organizational operating costs will not be considered.

Application period opens on Tuesday, August 17, 2021 and closes Friday, September 17, 2021.

Awards Criteria:
Proposals must include clear, defined goals for reducing health disparities and improving health equity in communities of color, especially within Black and Latino communities, where historic and current racism and discrimination continues to result in a higher burden of health inequities and social disadvantages. To foster a deeper understanding and outcome, proposals should take an intersectional approach when possible.  Organizations will need to specify how funding will measurably assist in improving racial and ethnic health equity outcomes.  Categories include, but are not limited to:

• Improving the community’s physical health and mental health
• Reducing social disparities in health care
• Ensuring access to healthcare

Application Rules/Requirements:

• Applicant must be a nonprofit organization located in our health plan region
• Application must be received on or before midnight of September 17, 2021
• The majority of constituents served by the program must be from Black, Indigenous, Hispanic, Asian and/or other communities of color
• Excellus BCBS will follow up with recipient organizations six months after funding is received to understand impact and use of funds
• Excellus BCBS does not fund political activities and/or capital campaigns

Definitions:  

• Health Equity: per CDC Guidelines, health equity is achieved when every person has the opportunity to “attain his or her full health potential” and no one is “disadvantaged from achieving this potential because of social position or other socially determined circumstances.” 
• Health Disparities: per CDC Guidelines, health disparities are preventable differences in the burden of disease, injury, violence, or in opportunities to achieve optimal health experienced by socially disadvantaged racial, ethnic, and other population groups, and communities.
• Intersectionality: per AAIDD Guidelines, intersectionality is a framework for understanding how aspects of a person's multiple social and political identities might combine to create unique burdens and barriers.