Strengthening Minnesota
Better health. Bolder business.
Eighty percent of health is influenced by physical environment, health behaviors, and social and economic factors such as community connections, housing, quality education and access to healthy foods.1
That’s why Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota is intentional about incorporating community into the core of our operations — aligned with our mission to pave the way for everyone to achieve their healthiest life.
We lead, support and provide funding for community health programs that make a real difference in ways no other health plan is doing. Funded exclusively through proceeds from the historic Blue Cross settlement with the tobacco industry, we invest in community-led solutions, advance policy to improve health outcomes and drive health narrative change so everyone can achieve their healthiest life.
No funding for our community health initiatives comes from employer fees, insured rates or member premium dollars.
Here’s a look at our community investments and initiatives, how they improve health across Minnesota and why they matter for a vibrant business community statewide.
2025 At A Glance
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$12.5 million dedicated to improving the health and wellbeing of Minnesotans through our Community Health Division, supporting more than 100 community organizations.2
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$1 million donated in year two of our five-year, $5 million pledge to support the Rural Behavioral Health Clinic at Minnesota State University, Mankato.2
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Nearly 600 charitable organizations received a total of $700,000 from the annual Blue Cross Giving Campaign.2
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More than 14,470 volunteer hours were donated by 1,211 associates to local charitable organizations across the state.2
Investing locally pays off
Through our Community Health Division, we make the most of our dollars across the state.
In 2025, $12.5 million was dedicated to improving the health and wellbeing of Minnesotans,2 especially people facing the greatest health challenges in our state. This included investing in initiatives to support more than 100 community organizations.2
Rising to meet the urgent needs of small businesses
Small businesses play a vital role in our state economy by creating jobs, strengthening neighborhoods and bringing essential services to our communities.
In January 2026, we were one of 28 Minnesota companies to support the Economic Response Fund, created by the Minneapolis Foundation, to distribute $3.5 million in grants to established organizations that bolster small business owners across the Twin Cities and in greater Minnesota during a time of uncertainty.
Earning accolades
In a recent national benchmark survey,3 the organizations that received funding shared highly positive perceptions about their experiences working with Blue Cross. Blue Cross was ranked:
- In the top 2% of organizations for responsiveness, trust, openness and comfort when organizations approached our team
- The top funder out of 350 for impact on public policy and local communities based on a national comparison dataset
- The top funder for understanding the social, cultural or socioeconomic factors that affected the work of funded organizations
Leading the charge to make a healthy difference
We improve community health across the state by tackling issues such as commercial tobacco prevention, healthy eating, maternal health and behavioral health.
Reducing the use of commercial tobacco
In 2025 through the HOPE Initiative, we provided $1.5 million in funding to 10 organizations and tribal nations2 to reduce the harm caused by commercial tobacco.
Funding for 2026 includes the HOPE Initiative, Quit the Hit (cessation support groups for young adults in Minnesota who want to quit vaping), local and state advocacy including our role co-chairing the Minnesota for a Smoke-Free Generation Coalition, and strategic planning for new initiatives.
Facilitating healthy eating and food security
$1.4 million was awarded in 2025 to the Food Access and Food Sovereignty Funding Initiatives2 to improve the lives of people experiencing food insecurity.
We’re also a co-leader of the Hunger-Free Schools Coalition to make school meals free for all students in Minnesota, and through our policy work, we successfully ensured the current level of funding wasn’t reduced for the state’s universal school meals program.
Improving maternal health outcomes
By elevating health literacy, strengthening care coordination, and building robust partnerships, including expanded roles for doulas and community health workers, we are improving maternal health.
In 2025, we targeted the root causes of unnecessary C-sections and avoidable emergency department visits. This year, our initiatives will include a maternal health community education pilot, provider partnerships to increase doula referral, and work to increase the number of the Blue Distinction® Centers for maternity care in Minnesota.
Strengthening access to behavioral health services
Partnerships with the Minnesota Recovery Connection and Mesabi Range College focused on strengthening behavioral healthcare access and workforce capacity in rural communities. These programs continue to expand access to critical behavioral health services, reducing barriers to treatment and fostering a healthier, more resilient workforce.
Additionally, in year two of our support of the Rural Behavioral Health Clinic at Minnesota State University, Mankato, we donated another $1 million toward our five-year, $5 million pledge.2
In partnership with the Boys and Girls Club, we provide local teens with access to art therapy kits that include a self-guided book entitled “Art of Me” to support teen mental health. These resources empower teen expression and give parents the language and confidence to lead meaningful mental health discussions.
Creating change through our associates’ time and energy
Associates are the lifeblood of our organization, and they give back to the community in meaningful ways, demonstrating the commitment and power of our people to effect positive change.
In fact, 1,211 associates spent 14,470 volunteer hours in 2025 helping our neighbors.2 Examples include volunteering their time at the Hallie Q. Brown Community Center, The Open Door, Habitat for Humanity, The Aliveness Project, and Urban Ventures.
And almost 600 charitable organizations received a total of $700,000 from the annual Blue Cross Community Giving Campaign.2
Leveraging tools, resources and predictive models to address social drivers of health
Social drivers of health (SDoH) play an outsized role in influencing health outcomes and has a direct impact on care expenditures. That’s why we established a dedicated product team to integrate SDoH into our enterprise initiatives. The team has three priority areas for intervention: social resource navigation, housing stability and food security.
- Blue Cross enhanced our use of Findhelp, a technology platform that connects members to local resources addressing health-related social needs. The platform offers the most comprehensive network of open-access social care services, providing an efficient way to deliver care and address social drivers of health. A key step forward was integrating Findhelp into our Blue Care AdvisorSM digital navigation tool so members have an even easier path to resources.
- This year, we’re pursuing innovative predictive modeling capabilities to score the likelihood that members are at risk in five SDoH domains — financial, food, housing, social isolation or transportation insecurity.
- Through our SDoH INTELLIGENCE tool, which evaluates data from our proprietary predictive models combined with a self-funded group’s member-level care cost and care gap data, we can show the impact of SDoH on a group’s member population. As we use this new tool and work with groups to share the data, SDoH insights have great promise to help drive interventions that mitigate SDoH risks and influence an employer’s cost of care.
Together with our account managers, our SDoH team is available to consult with clients to recommend ready-to-use vendor solutions or to design interventions specific to client populations. Throughout 2026 and into 2027, we anticipate supporting several pilots with commercial clients to demonstrate how interventions can create positive outcomes and reduce costs.
Healthy communities. Healthy employees.
Improving community health is at the heart of our operations. It’s the right thing to do, integral to our mission as a nonprofit organization and a strategic business priority.
By focusing on our communities and community health, we unlock new pathways for innovation and growth, including the development of new products and services that can help make a difference for people.
Minnesotans have better access to critical programs that help them live their healthiest lives through our trusted approach and strategic community focus. In turn, the initiatives we lead, support and fund bolster the strong and stable workforce employers depend on to thrive economically.
For more information, check out our 2025 Community Highlights.
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1“Social Determinants of Health: What Are Non-Medical Drivers of Health?” Aligningforhealth.org/social-determinants-of-health, accessed February 2, 2026.
2Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota internal data.
32024 survey, Center for Effective Philanthropy, an independent nonprofit organization that evaluates the effectiveness of institutional donors.