The University of Massachusetts Medical School was one of seven recipients of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services new Early Innovator awards, which are meant to help Connecticut and other New England states design and implement the information technology infrastructure needed to run health insurance exchanges, Mass High Tech reports.
UMass Medical in Worcester was named as the lead recipient on a $35.6 million grant targeted at a multi-state consortia covering the New England states. Six other grants went to Kansas, Maryland, New York, Oklahoma and Oregon.
The health insurance exchanges will allow individuals and small-business owners to pool their purchasing power to negotiate for health-care coverage. The grants will help to define and implement the technologies needed to support the exchanges through pilot or early implementer projects.
