We often think of journeys as having a beginning and an end—a starting point and a destination. But as detailed in the 2023 Report to the Community from Blue Cross and Blue Shield, the journey toward racial and health equity is anything but linear.

Many Minnesota communities continue to experience vast inequities when it comes to opportunities to achieve their healthiest life. This is true for Minnesota’s Latine, Somali and Hmong immigrant communities, who encounter significant challenges and barriers to health and racial equity as they establish themselves in the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.

It also continues to be the reality for Minnesota’s Black, Indigenous, Asian and Pacific Islander and other communities of color living in the state, who experience significant gaps in accessing an opportunity for a healthy life. While many have achieved specific milestones in health equity, the overall journey goes on.

Blue Cross has a mission of paving the way for everyone to achieve their healthiest life by advancing racial and health equity. In 2023, we supported the achievement of many statewide milestones, including expanded eligibility to MNCare to undocumented residents and universal school meals for all students. As an organization, we provided funding, grants, sponsorships and associate donations totaling $16.5 million—collectively contributing toward a healthier, safer and more just future for all Minnesotans.

The 2023 Report to the Community features a snapshot of achievements reached across the state – addressing issues like advancing healthy eating, reducing commercial tobacco use, extending access to healthcare coverage and supporting early childhood care and education.

Snapshot of community impact efforts

In 2023, Blue Cross bolstered our communities through funding, grants, sponsorships, volunteer efforts, and various other forms of support. Highlights from this work include:

• The Center for Prevention investing $6 million in communities to advance racial and health equity through increased access to healthy food and efforts to eliminate commercial tobacco use
• The Blue Cross Foundation providing 55 grants (totaling $4.6 million) to increase access to healthcare coverage and culturally informed care; support early childhood care and education; and strengthen community connections to reduce social isolation
• Investing $5 million in racial and health equity initiatives, including community funding to 89 organizations
• Blue Cross associates volunteering a total of 13,800 hours to charitable organizations
• Donating nearly $80,000 from associates and the Blue Cross Foundation through the MN Foodshare campaign
• Having approximately 600 charitable organizations receiving a total of more than $850,000 from the annual Blue Cross Community Giving Campaign

Download the full report

To see all that Blue Cross accomplished last year in Minnesota communities, download the 2023 Report to the Community here.

Translations available in Spanish, Somali and Hmong.