Washington, D.C.– Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva today highlighted newly available funds through the Health Care Innovation Challenge from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), a part of the Department of Health and Human Services. The Challenge, funded through the Affordable Care Act, will award a total of up to $1 billion nationwide to applicants around the country who want to research better cost-cutting, patient care and other health care professional practices.

According to CMS, applicants can include health care providers, faith-based organizations, local governments, public-private partnerships and multi-payer collaboratives.  Each approved project – with funding ranging from $1 million to a maximum of $30 million over a three-year period – will be monitored for measurable improvements in quality of care and savings generated.

Entities interested in applying should be aware of the following dates:

• Letter of Intent due December 19, 2011 – visit http://bit.ly/v7g2f1 for more information on submitting
• Applications due January 27, 2012
• Anticipated award date is March 30, 2012

CMS Innovation Center staff will host an informational webinar on the Health Care Innovation Challenge on Thursday, Nov. 17, from 2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Eastern time. Staff will provide an overview of the initiative and be available to answer questions from the audience. Please visit the webinar site at http://www.visualwebcaster.com/event.asp?id=83452 to learn more. You can also learn more about the new program from a recent Washington Post interview with CMS head Don Berwick at http://wapo.st/tsHQml.