The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected the most marginalized and under-resourced communities in Los Angeles County, the very communities that L.A. Care Health Plan serves. The impact is widespread – from more cases and deaths, to job losses leading to housing and food insecurity. The providers who serve these communities have also suffered as visits decreased for fear of exposure. L.A. Care quickly moved to support its members and providers.
In addition to the personalized outreach, education and access to care we offer our members, here are the funding and programmatic initiatives implemented to date.
Provider Support:
- Commits nearly $120 million to frontline health care providers
- $85 million in accelerated claims payments to L.A. Care network hospitals
- More than $21 million in advance Pay for Performance payments to individual providers and Federally Qualified Health Centers serving L.A. Care Medi-Cal members
- A $200,000 grant to the Tides Center's Connected Care Accelerator initiative to help safety net health care practices implement telehealth services.
Grantee Support:
- Approved more than $7 million in accelerated payments to current grantee clinics and community-based organizations. More than $5 million has been released so far on 93 grants, of which more than $3 million will be used for COVID-19 response and recovery
Food Security:
- A $550,000 grant to Project Angel Food to provide medically tailored meals to 151 L.A. Care members with chronic conditions such as HIV/AIDS, kidney disease, uncontrolled diabetes, pulmonary disease, or cancer
- More than $479,000 for a Meals to You pilot. This is a meal delivery program for up to 600 homebound members, offering two meals per day for 30 days and connecting members to sustainable food resources.
- Hosted or supported numerous drive-through food banks across Los Angeles County, serving more than 29,000 households
- A $30,000 sponsorship for the United Friends of the Children program to feed the children of undocumented parents who lost their jobs due to the pandemic. The funding will also support mental health support for 12 children
- A $25,000 sponsorship for Homeboy Industries to support their Feed Hope Program, covering 2,800 delivered meals to formerly incarcerated individuals and their families, and to home-bound seniors.
- A $20,000 sponsorship for Salvadoran American Leadership and Educational Fund (SALEF) to support 14 food distribution events that will serve as many as 2,800 families between January and July, 2021.
- A $150,000 grant to Project Angel Food to provide medically tailored meals through the end of the year to more than 80 members with chronic illnesses
Homelessness:
- A $475,000 grant to the United Way of Greater Los Angeles to provide essential supplies to unsheltered people experiencing homelessness. United Way will procure and distribute items such as tents, sleeping bags, hygiene kits and food to as many as 10,000 individuals who are living on the streets during this pandemic, as well as PPE for up to 5,000 frontline workers.
- A $500,000 grant to the United Way of Greater Los Angeles Health Pathways Expansion Program. The program provides one-time grants to health providers who are expanding health services for people experiencing homelessness across L.A. County. The funding will help providers deliver onsite healthcare in interim housing during the pandemic, and will help healthcare providers identify and enroll and least 350 of these individuals into Medi-Cal or other appropriate coverage. L.A. Care's contribution will also provide up to 900 visits to 720 people experiencing homelessness across L.A. County.
- A $750,000 grant initiative allowing six legal aid organizations to provide education and legal representation to hundreds of low-income individuals and families facing eviction. L.A. Care previously awarded $500,000 in grants to four legal aid agencies before the pandemic, but COVID-19 job losses and warnings about a pending wave of evictions required an even bigger commitment.
- A $75,000 grant to community partner Brilliant Corners to purchase personal protective equipment for L.A. County's COVID-19 Response Teams, so they can safely provide technical assistance on social distancing, screening, testing protocols, and infection control for staff at shelters and other interim housing facilities for individuals experiencing homelessness.
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Support for members experiencing homelessness by providing non-medical transportation, expediting access to durable medical equipment to those being helped by Project Roomkey, and connecting LAHSA with community organizations for much-need clothing donations.
Health Equity
- Nearly $1.5 million in Tranquada XI Initiative grants for 10 clinics to conduct projects that will primarily help communities of color. The various projects involve combating diabetes, hypertension, periodontal disease, and more, while tailoring their clinical services to meet COVID-19 demands
- $1 million in Equity and Resilience Initiative grants awarding to seven community-based organizations working to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on racially marginalized communities.
- Held two COVID-19 Disparities Leadership Summits, bringing together more than 280 health care leaders to discuss strategies to address the racial disparities in COVID-19 illnesses and deaths
- Nearly $2 million in Tranquada XII Initiative grants to 26 community-based clinic across Los Angeles County to increase the number of COVID-19 vaccinations in communities of color, which have been disproportionately impacted during the pandemic.
- In partnership with the LA vs Hate coalition, sponsored a large comic strip mural with a message against anti-Asian hate, which has increased during the pandemic
- Sponsored the printing of 17,000 How to Report a Hate Crime booklets
Other:
- Launched free, on-demand exercise and healthy cooking video programming to help members and the community stay healthy while staying safe at home
- Donated thousands of bottles of hand sanitizer to community clinics and homeless outreach workers
- Held seven blood drives in the wake of thousands of cancellations due to COVID-19
- Procured and donated 300 thermometers to the Partner in Care Foundation for health coaches to use as they help seniors and adults with disabilities maintain their independence at home
- In partnership with the California Medical Association, distributed more than $20,000 in personal protective equipment (respirators, surgical masks, gowns, face shields) to more than 300 practice locations in the L.A. Care Direct Network.
- Community Resource Centers hosted six COVID-19 vaccine clinics
- Collaborated with the Leonard Nimoy Foundation on a billboard and social media campaign to spread a ‘Get Vaccinated' message
- Conducted Facebook Live events in English and Spanish to fight disinformation about the COVID-19 vaccines