HHS gives $49M to help states build insurance exchanges
The Health & Human Services Department awarded $49 million in grants to 48 states and the District of Columbia to get them started building online health insurance exchanges designed to help consumers shop for coverage. Two states, Minnesota and Alaska, did not apply for the grants, according to HHS officials. The grants will help states take first steps toward building insurance market exchanges, designed to offer "one-stop shopping" for consumers and small businesses looking to compare and purchase health plans, as called for by the health reform law, said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in announcing the grants Sept. 30.
CDC award to improve public health system performance
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention awarded $42.5 million in grants to assist 94 projects in state, tribal, local and territorial health departments across the nation improve the performance and quality of their health services. The funds aim to help public health departments establish performance management systems to evaluate their effectiveness and train public health staff and community leaders to make business decisions that improve efficiency, according to Dr. Thomas Frieden, CDC's director. Through the projects, CDC wants to build a national network of performance improvement managers who share best practices on how to advance the public health system.
New York funds $109M to expand health IT use
The New York State Department of Health awarded 11 health care organizations grants totaling $109 million to improve coordination of health care in the state through health IT, especially mental health, long-term care and homebased care. The funding is aimed at projects that contribute to building a health IT infrastructure in New York that will enable providers to coordinate care for patients with chronic health problems.
Indiana U. given $4M to study health IT ethics, law
The Lilly Endowment"a private family foundation created by the founders of pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Co."gave Indiana University $4 million to study the legal, ethical and social implications of the use of health IT. The funds will support the creation of the Center for Law, Ethics and Applied Research in Health Information (CLEAR Health Information). The center will be a collaboration between the Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research, part of the Pervasive Technology Institute at IU, and the IU School of Medicine's Center for Bioethics.
