A Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) foundation allegedly excluded organizations with white CEOs and communities with majority white populations from applying for a grant program until changing the policy last week.
The Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation reportedly expanded eligibility after a medical watchdog group and media reports exposed the policy.
The program manager for Do No Harm said BCBS of North Carolina was “caught red-handed” when it attempted to exclude groups from “advancing healthy food equity.” The company backtracked after being called out for discrimination.
Until the change in North Carolina, communities served by the program needed to be non-white. Any company run by a white CEO was ineligible.
“Discrimination should have no place in our society, yet they were prepared to reject grant applications from nonprofits led by white CEOs just because of their skin color,” Do No Harm’s Laura Morgan told The Daily Signal.
The BCBS foundation was established in 2000. In a promotional video, the health insurance company’s affiliate said the food program was set up to support organizations led by minorities.
“This opportunity is specifically designed to support community-rooted organizations that are led by, serving, and accountable to American Indians, Black, Latino, other People of Color, and members of immigrant communities, to increase their ability to engage in advocacy to address the root causes of inequitable access to healthy food,” a BCBS spokesperson said in the video.
In changing the criteria, BCBS said more communities would be eligible and the CEO’s race requirement would be eliminated.
“Since we released this funding opportunity in early January, we have received inquiries from potential applicants and others working in the community whose work aligns with the goals of this opportunity, yet whose organizations don’t quite match all aspects of the stated eligibility criteria,” BCBS said.
“After careful consideration, we have decided to expand both the number of organizations being supported by this grant funding, as well as the eligibility criteria for those seeking an award,” it added.
The foundation’s web page initially indicated the program was trying to increase access to healthy food for minority communities.
“We are excited about this opportunity to broaden the impact of this work and look forward to partnering with many great organizations as we work together to expand access to healthy food across the state,” the foundation said.
Any program closed to communities because of their skin color is a bad idea, Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, Do No Harm board chairman and a former associate dean at the University of Pennsylvania’s school of medicine, told The Epoch Times
“If ever there was a bad idea, the notion that we should start to separate our country along racial lines is among the worst,” Goldfarb, a kidney specialist, told The Epoch Times.
Some healthcare advocates disagree. In an article headlined “How the Collective Force of Advocacy Can Make a Difference in Underserved Communities,” Dr. Iris P. Frye posited that the health of the black community in the U.S. does have to do with their race.
“[Black Americans] live in neighborhoods lacking access to healthy food but flooded with fast-food chains,” Frye wrote for HIMSS.org. “These challenging conditions, compounded with the erosion of psychological and cardiovascular health from racially charged stressors, consistently contribute to health disparities in the Black community.”
The Dallas Express reached out to Blue Cross Blue Shield’s Texas charitable arm, asking if it had a similar program to North Carolina. The group had not responded by the publication deadline.
On its web page, however, Blue Cross Blue Shield in Texas said it would not fund groups involved in political or religious activities.
“[Blue Cross Blue Shield will not fund] organizations or projects with written policies that discriminate against individuals based on race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religious creed, national origin, physical or mental disability, or protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law,” the BCBS Texas web page states.
still no justice , our children are under attack, our votes no longer count due too fake ballots by democrats and rinos
The Epoch Times (cited in the article) often has excellent, fact-reporting stories which the major mainstream outlets do not report on.
It is necessary for all good people to stand our ground if we truly would eradicate racism. As long as the society takes the position that “It’s not racism if it’s committed against White people” there will be division. Those words have been said by high-profile people. The flip side has also been said, about how racism is never committed by those of a certain race. Even though this seems to be a relatively recent phenomenon, this nation’s actions have spoken even louder than those words. When preference is given to one race in the schools, the workplace to meet a quota system or to promote outcome-based education, all races are insulted.