Health Care District Approves $4.6 Million Grant

The Peninsula Health Care District Board of Directors recently approved a $4.6 million, two-year grant for the San Mateo County Health System for uninsured, low-income adults in the area.

The county health system’s Access to Care for Everyone (ACE) Program adult enrollment has jumped by 90 percent over the past three years. At the same time, funding for this service has decreased by $18 million. There are currently 3,000 on the program’s waiting list.

The funds will be used for providing healthcare to these individuals, of which a quarter live in the health care district’s boundaries of Burlingame, Millbrae, San Bruno, Hillsborough, San Mateo and parts of Foster City and South San Francisco. The funding is expected to help about 1,000 residents.

“This is the right thing to do,” district board Chair Dan Ullyot said in a statement. “Access to much-needed healthcare services is essential to the health of our community; and is embedded in this Board’s vision statement—that all residents of the District enjoy optimal health through education, prevention, and access to needed health care services.”

The grant will assist in coverage and transition into 2014 when the Affordable Care Act takes effect. Those who will be helped by the grant and ACE are often adults who have lost their jobs or healthcare coverage, but do not qualify for Medi-Cal.

“This funding is vital,” San Mateo County Supervisor Carole Groom said in a statement. “The budget challenges continue to grow, as does the number of residents without coverage.”

Using the funds, county health Chief Jean Fraser committed to attaining certain goals, including assigning 20 percent of the waiting list to a primary care provider.

With the inclusion of this grant, the health care district will invest $8.95 million in community health grants in the next two years.