Health Consumer Center funded by The California Endowment

This is a program designed to help low-income individuals with access to health and dental services and, in collaboration with California’s Health Consumer Alliance (please see link below), to help make local and statewide systemic change in improving health care access for the poor.

Goals:

To help low-income individuals with direct and immediate access to health care services.

To provide health advocacy assistance to low-income individuals who are encountering difficulty with access to health care.

Services:

-Assistance navigating and understanding the health care system.
-Assistance understanding your health care rights and responsibilities.
-Assistance understanding your rights and responsibilities as a HMO consumer.
-Assistance with Medicare Part D. 
-Assistance in receiving culturally and linguistically appropriate care.
-One on one assistance overcoming barriers to health care.
-Assistance with Medi-Cal and Healthy Families denials or obstacles.

We are a part of California’s Health Consumer Alliance (HCA), a united effort of legal services agencies throughout California to address the health access problems of California consumers, particularly low-income consumers. Health Consumer Centers assist consumers in Alameda, El Dorado, Fresno, Los Angeles, Orange, Placer, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, San Mateo, Kern and Yolo counties. Please see links below.

Please call Carmen Burgos, Program Manager, at 661-321-3980 for services or if you would like more information.

Services are in English, Spanish and Mixteco and are free of charge

For consumer and advocate information and brochures on health care topics please visit the following:

Health Consumer Alliance (HCA) web site

The Affordable Care Act
The Affordable Care Act was passed by Congress and signed into law by the President in March 2010.  The law places comprehensive health insurance reforms that hold insurance companies accountable, lower health care costs, guarantee more choice, and enhance the quality of care for all Americans. For example, did you know that beginning September 23, 2010:

1) Young adults up to age 26 can stay on their parents’  plans beginning when a new policy year starts; and
2) Insurance companies cannot deny coverage to children under 19 years of age with preexisting medical conditions; and
3) Insurance companies cannot cancel your health care policy unless your insurance can prove fraud; and
4) Adults with pre-existing medical conditions who have been denied coverage by an insurance company can now apply for the “Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan.” Californians interested in coverage under the PCIP are encouraged to visit www.pcip.ca.gov or call 1-877-428-5060 for more information.

For more information on Health Care Reform, please visit the following web sites:

HealthCare.gov:   http://www.healthcare.gov/

Get Covered California:  http://www.getcoveredca.org/

En Español:  http://www.cuidadodesalud.gov/enes/

“One Stop” Source for Kern County’s Health Data:

“Healthy Kern” is a comprehensive website that can be used by the community as a single internet source dedicated to hosting current Kern County health information. To access Healthy Kern please select the following link:

http://www.healthykern.org