LOS ANGELES — L.A. Care Health Plan, the largest publicly-operated health plan in the country, has signed a three-year contract which will allow its 2.2 million members to receive advanced and highly specialized care (i.e., tertiary and quaternary care), when deemed medically necessary, at the world-class Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and the UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica.
We're pleased to bring expanded access to high-quality health care to our Medi-Cal members. UCLA is always ranked among the top hospital systems in the country, and now our members will benefit from that expertise.
--John Baackes
CEO, L.A. Care
This marks the first Medi-Cal contract between L.A. Care and UCLA.
"We take great pride in providing outstanding, patient-centered care to patients and families," said Johnese Spisso, President of UCLA Health & CEO of the UCLA Hospital System. "UCLA Health is pleased to partner with L.A. Care to provide access to care for patients who need our advanced services."
In the new contract, 3,500 L.A. Care members will also be eligible to receive primary care from the UCLA Medical Group.
This is the second time this year that L.A. Care and UCLA have partnered to serve the Medi-Cal population in Los Angeles County. In July, L.A. Care announced four full medical school scholarships to students at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, as part of Elevating the Safety Net, an initiative to recruit highly-qualified primary care physicians to the L.A. County safety net. Each of the four students has expressed a desire to work with the county’s underserved communities.
About L.A. Care Health Plan
L.A. Care Health Plan serves more than 2.2 million members in Los Angeles County, making it the largest publicly-operated health plan in the country. L.A. Care offers four health coverage plans including Medi-Cal, L.A. Care Covered™, L.A. Care Cal MediConnect Plan and the PASC-SEIU Homecare Workers Health Care Plan, all dedicated to being accountable and responsive to members. As a public entity, L.A. Care’s mission is to provide access to quality health care for L.A. County's vulnerable and low-income communities, and to support the safety net required to achieve that purpose. L.A. Care prioritizes quality, access and inclusion, elevating health care for all of L.A. County. For more information, visit lacare.org or follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
About UCLA Health
UCLA Health includes four hospitals on two campuses — Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center; UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica; Mattel Children’s Hospital UCLA; and Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA — and more than 170 primary and specialty care practices throughout Southern California. UCLA Health ranks #1 in Los Angeles and #7 nationally in U.S. News & World Report's Best Hospitals survey.