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Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Awards Grant to Community Health and Social Services Center in Detroit, Helping Thousands of Latinos Get Needed Health Care
Meghan O'Brien
| 2 min read
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan has awarded Community Health and Social Services Center in southwest Detroit $55,000 in grant funding to support a bilingual program aimed at helping Latinos enroll in health care coverage. According to Kaiser Health News, Latinos are among the least likely populations to sign up for new health care coverage offered under the Affordable Care Act. Among Latinos who are eligible for coverage, enrollment has been impaired by a lack of Spanish-language information and a shortage of bilingual enrollment workers. The Blue Cross award will support Community Health and Social Services Center’s bilingual Coverage to Care program, an initiative to help people enroll in new health care coverage, understand their benefits and connect to primary care and the preventive services, so they can live longer, healthier lives. The center expects more than 1,000 people will participate in the program over the next year, improving both coverage rates and health literacy among the Latino population in the Detroit area. “Community Health and Social Services Center is a trusted community organization and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan is proud to partner with CHASS as we work to help more people get quality health care,” said Lynda Rossi, executive vice president of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. “By helping more Latinos get health care, we support families, local businesses and the entire community.” With the award, Community Health and Social Services Center plans to hire a bilingual community health worker and train an estimated 30 staff and volunteers from partnering organizations to help enroll and re-enroll people in health care coverage. This new team will also provide education on how to use health coverage. The services will be offered in Spanish and English. “We are grateful to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan for supporting our work to help more Latinos get health coverage and be our partner in strengthening the community,” said Ricardo Guzman, chief executive officer of Community Health and Social Services Center. “This award will help us overcome challenges in helping under-represented communities, such as the Latino community, get access to quality care. Together, we can build stronger communities for families here in southwest Detroit and beyond.” Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, a nonprofit mutual insurance company, is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. BCBSM provides and administers health benefits to more than 4.4 million members residing in Michigan in addition to employees of Michigan-headquartered companies who reside outside the state. For more company information, visit bcbsm.com and MiBluesPerspectives.com. Photo Credit: marco antonio torres
