A $630 million state fund created 10 years ago to improve the health of state residents is being administered largely as intended but could benefit from clearer and more specific policies, a state audit found. The auditâ??s conclusions, released Wednesday, were welcomed by both a critic and a supporter of the way the fund is being spent. The fund was created when Blue Cross Blue Shield United of Wisconsin converted from a nonprofit health insurance company to a for-profit corporation in 2000. To reimburse taxpayers for tax breaks it received as a nonprofit, the company provided $630.4 million to the state. That money was used to create endowments at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee and the UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health. Tension has focused on whether enough of the money is being spent on public health initiatives, as opposed to core needs of the medical schools such as equipment and staff recruitment.
Office of Strategic Communication