Health Net provides health plans for individual families and business and for people on Medicare and people with Medi-Cal. California Medi-Cal providers have received grants from Health Net https://healthnet.com totaling $13.4 million to help establish and expand telehealth and telephonic services. Originally, the company had announced that $5.9 million would be available in grants on April 2, 2020, but based on the overwhelming response to the Request for Support, Health Net decided to award $13.4 million.
Health Net grants will be used to build or expand telehealth practices, including live video visits, e-consultations, and tele-psychiatry. Funds used for infrastructure can include laptops, cell phones, and software internet connectivity, which will be used to provide training and technical assistance.
Brian Ternan, President and CEO of Health Net of California and California Health and Wellness, said “Our goal is to think creatively and support funding for providers quickly to help them build their telehealth capacity as soon as possible and care for those most in need.”
Health Net’s 138 grantees span the state from the rural north to the urban south, and includes independent provider practices, rural health centers, community clinics, Indian health centers, and more. Nearly 20% of grantees have reported that they were without existing telehealth services at the time of their application.