09/10/08

The Colorado Trust Announces 10-Year Commitment to Achieve Access to Health: Over $28 Million in Grants Made in Support of this Goal

Denver, CO – The Colorado Trust today announced its commitment to focus all of its new grantmaking over the next 10 years on achieving access to health for all Coloradans by 2018. The public announcement came at an event to formally inform and thank many of the individuals, public and private organizations, and government agencies that work with the statewide foundation to achieve this change. The Colorado Trust has made about 50 grants totaling over $28 million in support of this new vision since January 2008, when its board set this strategic direction.

"While Colorado boasts healthy living, robust lifestyles and fit people, our state ranks near the bottom of all states for the number of children covered by health insurance, and adults don't fare much better," said William N. Maniatis, M.D., Chairman of the Board of Trustees of The Colorado Trust. "A growing awareness of the serious plight this causes for thousands of Colorado families, and the heavy fiscal burden it places on our already challenged state budget is pushing state leaders, the health industry, advocates and consumers alike to work together for change. We believe that with a singularly-focused vision and decade-long commitment, we can help to sustain this momentum until comprehensive, meaningful change is realized." 

The Trust was formed in 1985 with the proceeds of the sale of the PSL Health Care Corporation. Since that time, it has supported more than 700 nonprofit organizations in every county across the state to improve health and well-being.

The Trust's new strategic grantmaking supports the development of a far-reaching and coordinated system of policies, programs and services that expand health coverage, and improve and expand health care to ensure that:

• Every child has a real opportunity to grow up healthy in Colorado
• Colorado has a healthy population that contributes to the prosperity of the state
• Affordable health care coverage is available for all Colorado families and individuals
• Accessible, quality care is the norm across the state
• The health care system delivers care that is responsive to the needs of all Coloradans.

"To achieve this vision, The Colorado Trust will fund policy support, advocacy and systems change, among other strategies, necessary to achieve sustainable solutions," said Irene M. Ibarra, President and CEO of The Colorado Trust. "We will work with many other partners with our first focus on the people who are most vulnerable and disadvantaged, including children and low-income working families. And the ultimate goal is to ensure that all Coloradans will receive affordable, timely, quality care without exception for race or ethnicity, socioeconomic status or geographic location."

Among the first grants made to achieve access to health for all Coloradans by 2018 is support for efforts to expand health coverage. According to the Commonwealth Fund, Colorado currently is 44th among states for the percentage of uninsured children, and ranks 51st for the percentage of uninsured children living at or below 200% of the federal poverty level. The Lewin Group estimates there are 800,000-plus Coloradans who have no health insurance, and many more with inadequate coverage. Examples of these grants include:

• Grants to The Bell Policy Center ($150,000), Colorado Children's Campaign ($350,000) and Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute ($150,000) to advocate for fiscal and policy changes to improve the health care system through their collaborative project, "Looking Forward."
• A $1 million grant to the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing to increase outreach and enrollment to those eligible for but not enrolled in Medicaid or CHP+, centralize eligibility determinations to make it easier for families to enroll in public health programs, increase Medicaid reimbursement for primary and dental health care, improve health information technology and other efforts to streamline and strengthen public health coverage, and improve the cost and quality of health care systems.

Additionally, while insurance coverage is important to health status, coverage alone does not guarantee access to health care; having a usual source of care, or medical home, has considerable impact on access and utilization of health care services, independent of insurance status. New Trust grants also support efforts to improve the health care system so that it is able to deliver quality, timely care that is responsive to the needs of all Coloradans, and expands the supply of well-trained health care providers. The state has a significant shortage of health providers, particularly primary care doctors and registered nurses – and many of these shortages are particularly profound in rural Colorado. Examples of these grants include:

• A $900,000 grant to Rocky Mountain Youth Clinics to bring consistent primary, mental and dental health care to children in their communities - particularly for families that have difficulty accessing health care through the traditional system - through clinics, mobile health care vans that serve rural and metro-area counties, and by establishing and servicing new school-based health centers.
• A $1.2 million grant to the Colorado Center for Nursing Excellence to build the state's health professions workforce through the Nursing Faculty Retention and Recruitment Program, including a nursing faculty educational loan repayment program.

The Colorado Trust is a grantmaking foundation dedicated to achieving access to health for all Coloradans.