The Cigna Group launched the Cigna Group Well being Fairness Impression Fund on Monday. The corporate’s basis dedicated $9 million via the fund over three years to scale back well being disparities in native communities.
The fund is specializing in communities the place well being disparities are probably the most prevalent, beginning with Houston, Texas, and Hartford, Connecticut. The fund will collaborate with native nonprofits in these communities and can attain out to certified nonprofits to “establish alignment and pursue full utility for consideration,” mentioned Suzanne Klotz, president of The Cigna Group Basis, in an e-mail. The primary cohort of this system can request grants between $100,000 and $250,000 for 12 or 24 months.
Cigna chosen these preliminary two cities via a “data-led method” and decided that there are important well being disparities in these cities in comparison with different cities within the fund’s focus areas, Klotz mentioned.
“Connecticut, inclusive of Hartford, which is usually identified for having robust well being outcomes general, nonetheless has among the widest gaps in racial and ethnic disparities within the nation, with Black and Hispanic Hartford-area residents extra more likely to forgo well being care than non-Hispanic White residents,” Klotz acknowledged. “Houston, in the meantime, is ranked among the many worst within the nation for each well being disparities and outcomes, with a excessive prevalence of weight problems and diabetes amongst Hispanic residents.”
In Houston, greater than 40% of Black and Hispanic residents battle weight problems and 25% of all Houston adults say they don’t get sufficient train. A scarcity of entry to healthcare, transportation and wholesome meals exacerbates these disparities. The Cigna Group Well being Fairness Impression Fund plans to assist diet schooling and recent meals entry, in addition to enhance entry to transportation for well being visits and bodily actions for Hispanic adults.
“Our purpose for The Cigna Group Well being Fairness Impression Fund is to assist handle the basis causes of well being disparities within the communities we serve,” Klotz mentioned. “We all know that 80% of well being outcomes are decided by elements that occur exterior of the physician’s workplace – generally known as the social determinants of well being. These embrace primary wants reminiscent of entry to wholesome meals, transportation, and bodily actions. For instance, in Houston, we’re targeted on lowering the prevalence of weight problems and diabetes by addressing these key social determinants of well being.”
In Hartford, Cigna will deal with supporting Black and Hispanic adults by increasing the supply of suppliers and community-based assets with culturally applicable care fashions. It’ll additionally advance entry to transportation for well being visits and bodily actions.
Klotz added that Cigna will discover different areas with important well being disparities which are in want of assist.
A number of different insurers and healthcare organizations have made investments to deal with well being disparities. Final 12 months, Well being Web made a $46 million funding to assist those that are unhoused in California. Kaiser Permanente has additionally dedicated $50 million to battle meals and diet insecurity between 2022 and 2030.
Photograph: StockFinland, Getty Photographs
