Three California projects were among those selected to receive a combined $122.6 million in grant awards in the first round of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Health Care Innovation Awards.
The awards program, which was created as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and administered by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), is expected to give roughly $1 billion in grant funding to projects seeking to deliver care at a lowered cost to those enrolled in Medicare, Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Programs.
In California, grants were awarded to Lifelong Medical Care, based in the San Francisco Bay Area; the Regents of the University of California, Los Angeles; and South County Community Health Center of San Mateo County.
The National Health Care for the Homeless Council also received a grant for a project whose scope will include California.
These projects, along with 22 others who were awarded grants, are expected to improve the quality of care received by roughly 750,000 patients and reduce health care spending by $254 million over the next three years, according to HHS officials.
More information on the projects receiving the Health Care Innovation Awards can be found at the CMS Innovation Center website, www.innovation.cms.gov.