RICHARDSON, Texas, July 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX) announced today that it has awarded more than $1.6 million in grants statewide to support 17 community-based organizations addressing social factors that impact health such as access to healthcare services, transportation, safe housing and economic opportunities, among others.

Investing in and partnering with like-minded organizations on community health initiatives builds on BCBSTX's long history of supporting local communities and helping families and individuals thrive. Through these efforts, BCBSTX aims to help improve the lives of people in our communities by removing barriers and addressing social factors that affect their health and well-being.

The grants will target health challenges such as:

• Behavioral and physical health coordination: To support integrated health services in high-need areas, including substance abuse to individuals, families and communities.
• People with special needs: To help organizations expand services to improve health outcomes for BCBSTX members and others in the community with special healthcare needs.
• Building capacity and better connecting members and communities: To support organizations and initiatives that provides resources for collaborative care to drive long-term sustainability and reduce the cost of non-emergent care.

"As the state's largest health insurer with a presence in 254 counties, we have a unique and big-picture perspective about social influencers that are affecting not only our members but Texans in general," said Dr. Dan McCoy, President of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas. "We also have a responsibility to be actively involved with helping to change the trajectory for Texans when it comes to community health and those social and environmental conditions that prevent people from having healthy lives.

"Our aim in seeking collaborative partners to invest in is to improve not only the health of our members, but also the health of communities we serve," McCoy continued. "That's why partnering with organizations that are on the ground connecting people to the services that they need – transportation, housing and behavioral health resources – is so vitally important."

The following organizations were awarded community investment grants:

• National Alliance on Mental Illness (N.A.M.I.)
• PRISM Aids Arms
• Los Barrios Unidos Community Clinic
• Spindletop Center
• El Centro de Corazón
• Coastal Plains Community Center
• Texas Parent to Parent
• Launchability/My Possibilities (Dallas)
• 29 Acres
• Easter Seals
• Hopeful Hearts
• V.E.L.A.
• United Way of Dallas
• Greater Houston HealthConnect
• Collaborative for Children
• Shriners Hospitals for Children(Galveston)
• Bexar County Community Health / The Health Collaborative

"These grants will support strategic partnerships with organizations that have a shared interest in creating communities of healthy Texans," said Dr. Robert Morrow, who leads Community Investment for BCBSTX, and is President, Houston and Southeast Texas. "We know that impactful change occurs over time and is the result of strong collaboration, innovation and commitment. We look forward to seeing the impact of these investments on the communities we serve."

About Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas 
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX) – the only statewide, customer-owned health insurer in Texas – is the largest provider of health benefits in the state, working with nearly 80,000 physicians and healthcare practitioners, and 500 hospitals to serve 5 million members in all 254 counties. BCBSTX is a Division of Health Care Service Corporation (which operates Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in Texas, Illinois, Montana, Oklahoma and New Mexico), the country's largest customer-owned health insurer and fourth-largest health insurer overall. Health Care Service Corporation is a Mutual Legal Reserve Company and an Independent Licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.

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SOURCE Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas

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