L.A. Care Stands in Support of Measure to Make Equal Access to Health Care a Protected Civil Right

L.A. Care Health Plan, the nation’s largest publicly operated health plan that serves nearly 2.9 million residents of Los Angeles County, applauds Congressman Adam Schiff for reintroducing legislation to protect access to equitable health care. H.R. 3068, known as the Equal Health Care for All Act, would make equal access to health care a protected civil right, addressing racial inequities and system failures in the U.S. health care system. The legislation states that these inequities and failures exacerbate health and mortality disparities among Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous communities. 

The legislation would establish a definition for ‘inequitable health care’ to help ensure that hospitals provide the same high quality health care services to all patients, regardless of race, national original, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, age, or religion. It would also create a Federal Health Equity Commission to oversee progress of health equity efforts.

For generations, America’s health care system has failed millions of people because of systemic barriers that stem from various biases. Biases lead to disparate care, which results in higher rates of serious illness and death. L.A. Care is committed to advancing health equity, and believes everyone deserves access to affordable and equitable health care. H.R. 3068 aims to remedy structural and system failures, and L.A. Care wrote to Congressman Schiff, the L.A. County Congressional delegation and California’s Senators, to express support for the legislation.