BCBSNC Foundation Announces $10 Million Grant to Support, Sustain and Expand Free Health Clinic Access Across North Carolina

Chapel Hill, NC - The Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation (BCBSNC Foundation) today announced a $10 million grant to free health clinics across North Carolina to strengthen and expand the clinics' health services to the uninsured and underinsured.

The BCBSNC Foundation is making the grant to the N.C. Association of Free Clinics (NCAFC) as part of a partnership between the organizations to strengthen the free health clinic network across the state. The grant, to be distributed over five years, is the largest ever to be made by the BCBSNC Foundation and the largest to be received by the Association.

In addition to expanding services at existing clinics, the grant's goal is to expand the number of free clinics and pharmacies across the state to 85, up from the current 57, and to provide statewide access. The grant is also expected to allow free clinics to more than double the number of people served annually.

"Providing health care for the uninsured is crucial to the well-being of North Carolina, and it is central to the mission of the BCBSNC Foundation," said Bob Greczyn, president and chairman of the BCBSNC Foundation. "This partnership will help free clinics expand their scope statewide, providing quality health care to tens of thousands of North Carolinians."

With funding from the BCBSNC Foundation's Free Clinics Initiative, the Association projects that by 2009, more than 300,000 uninsured patients annually will receive $150 million worth of health services from free clinics and pharmacies, including 750,000 prescriptions.

"Many clinics across our state are facing huge fund-raising challenges due to the sluggish economy and layoffs," said John Mills, executive director of the NCAFC. "This initiative by the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation will provide the additional support needed to meet ongoing challenges free health clinics face on a daily basis."

In 2002, North Carolina's free clinics and pharmacies provided $60 million of free health care to more than 125,000 uninsured patients, dispensing more than 350,000 prescriptions to both uninsured and underinsured patients.

Every free clinic will be eligible for a base grant from the BCBSNC Foundation as well as for additional aid for needs such as service expansion, technology and programs for people with chronic medical conditions. The BCBSNC Foundation grant will also be used for start-up aid to establish new clinics, an annual flu shot program for all clinics, and planning grants and matching grants.

Free health clinics are private, nonprofit, community-based organizations that provide medical care at little or no charge to low-income, uninsured and underinsured North Carolinians through the use of volunteer health care professionals and partnerships with other health providers. North Carolina has more than 50 free clinics, more free medical clinics than any state in the country. There are approximately 600 free clinics nationwide.

For more information, see the BCBSNC Foundation-N.C. Association of Free Clinics Initiative Questions and Answers