LOS ANGELES – L.A. Care Health Plan, the largest publicly operated health plan in the country, and Planned Parenthood Los Angeles (PPLA), Los Angeles County’s premier reproductive and sexual health care and education provider, are partnering to expand in-network services for the more than 23,000 members who currently are seeing providers within L.A. Care’s Direct Network and as an ancillary provider for all of L.A. Care’s members. The contract, which will take effect November 1, allows L.A. Care to include PPLA’s network of health centers in its provider directory.
“Planned Parenthood Los Angeles has been serving L.A. Care members for more than two decades, but it has done so at non-contracted rates,” said John Baackes, L.A. Care CEO. “This contract will ensure our members continue to get high-quality reproductive care while strengthening the partnership between the two organizations.”
PPLA currently has 21 health centers throughout Los Angeles County and already serves more than 30,000 self-referred L.A. Care members each year. The new formalized partnership will integrate PPLA into L.A. Care’s family planning strategies, including training and education across the county.
The new agreement allows PPLA to conduct formal outreach to all L.A. Care members as an L.A. Care ancillary provider and continue to grow in communities most in need of easier access to high-quality, affordable reproductive and sexual health care. L.A. Care now will list PPLA clinics in its provider directory and reimburse PPLA at in-network rates for covered members.
“We are looking forward to our partnership with L.A. Care making it easier for their members to find our wide range of high-quality reproductive and sexual health care services,” said Sue Dunlap, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Los Angeles. “Between their Community Resource Centers and our robust education and outreach programs, this partnership also will expand the work we can do together to support families throughout Los Angeles County.”
PPLA health centers conduct more than 250,000 patient visits each year and offer a wide range of services including birth control, STI testing and treatment, cancer screenings, prenatal care, HIV testing and referral, HPV vaccine, and more.