Can One Invest Money "In" Blue Cross Blue Shield

Community Investments

Investing in Healthy Outcomes for All North Carolinians

Home ❯ Community Investments

Opioid Epidemic
Social Determinants of Health
Early Childhood Development
Primary Care and Access

How are we investing in North Carolina communities?

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina donates millions of dollars every year. But, this year is different. We are donating an extra $50 million into health programs around the state thanks in part to tax savings. We're using this money to address issues affecting all of North Carolina and give better access to care for our members.

This money will be split up into four areas:

Blue Cross NC is committed to stopping the opioid epidemic. We are donating to state programs to prevent, treat, and intervene in opioid-related hospital visit and deaths.

Opioid Epidemic

Access to medical care and healthy habits as a child means becoming a healthier adult. We're investing in childhood programs that promote and encourage healthy habits and development.

Early Childhood Development

Where we're born and how we live are more important than our genetics or the health care we receive. So, we are improving the availability of essential resources around the state.

Social Determinants of Health

Did you know 70% of North Carolina's counties are considered medical deserts? That means they are without access to even the most basic primary care. We're changing that.

Primary Care and Access

"Healthy communities are foundational for healthy North Carolinians."

– Cheryl Parquet, Director, Community and Diversity Engagement

Opioid Epidemic

The opioid epidemic is one of the biggest health challenges facing North Carolina today. And, it costs the state $21 billion in medical costs.

We are donating millions of dollars to help address the opioid crisis through education and treatment centers. You can keep up with all of our investments here. Read the latest blog posts on opioids. Or, watch videos to see how we're impacting the epidemic.

For more information on how we are addressing the opioid crisis, view our opioid information page.

Three people in NC die every day from an opioid overdose.

pharmacist and client discuss medication

Social Determinants of Health

Where you are born, grow up, live, and work are all considered social determinants of health. And, they can affect the way you age and your overall health. When a person's social needs aren't met, it can lead to more illness, hospital stays, and emergency room visits. This leads to higher health care costs for everyone.
It's shown that social determinants of health have the biggest impact in a child's first three years of life.

50% or more of your health outcomes are determined by social determinants of health.

That's why we are helping families meet basic needs like:

Safe Homes

Healthy Foods

Early Childhood Intervention

Transportation

Learn more about how we are meeting social needs across the state and our investments:

Sound the Alarm Event Press Release

Thinking broadly about investing in health

Often, when people think about what shapes a person's health, they think about routine doctor visits, medications, and exercise – things largely within the control of our doctor and us. But there are many other circumstances at work. Where we live, how safe or stressful...

Early Childhood Development

How we live and thrive as children directly affect our health outcomes as adults. Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) can lead to delayed brain development and costly diseases as adults. We are fighting ACEs by investing in early childhood development and nurture. Our investments will fund research and more access to early childhood programs.

Investing in early childhood development can help make health care affordable for everyone.

Primary Care

Lack of primary and preventive care has a huge impact on the cost of health care in North Carolina. We want to address the health care costs in North Carolina by increasing primary care access to every county.

Our investments will:

Increase the number of primary care and dental care in low-income, rural areas.
Provide health care through tools like Telehealth and Nurse hotlines.

70 of our 80 rural counties are without proper primary care.