Maine Health Access Foundation Awards Nearly $4M in Grants

The Maine Health Access Foundation, created through Anthem Insurance Cos.' purchase of the not-for-profit Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Maine two years ago, on July 17 awarded $3.7 million in grants to 38 organizations "expanding health care to those who need it most," the Portland Press Herald reports. The one-time grants come from the foundation's $88 million endowment and represent the foundation's first disbursement. Dr. Wendy Wolf, the foundation's executive director, said the groups that received grants serve "individuals who are uninsured, underserved ... those individuals from low-income families and particularly those who have cultural or linguistic barriers." For example, the Preble Street Resource Center, which received the largest grant, will use its $250,000 award to help develop an 8,000-square-foot facility to house a homeless health care clinic and teen center, the Press Herald reports. Other groups receiving awards include dental care providers, hospitals and clinics providing telemedicine services for rural parts of the state. In addition, a state Legislature-created commission that will study the feasibility of universal health care in Maine received an award.

Support from Critics
Some critics of the Blue Cross purchase -- who had predicted the state would "lose a locally controlled [not-for-profit] health insurer and profit margins would become the priority" -- were able to "differentiat[e]" between the foundation and their "distaste for the sale," the Press-Herald reports. Ann Woloson, a policy analyst for Consumers for Affordable Health Care, said, "We did oppose the sale, but we definitely support the fact that a foundation has been created that is going to benefit Maine people." Trish Riley, president of the foundation's board of trustees and executive director of the National Academy for State Health Policy, said that the foundation plans to award approximately $4 million in grants this year, adding that although the amount "seems like a great deal of money, ... against the enormous cost of health care and the huge number of people who are uninsured in our state, it's not that much money." Officials said the foundation plans to announce a "long-range strategy" for further grants later this year (Huang, Portland Press Herald, 7/18).