As of the end of June, almost all patients who are on General Relief (GR) will be eligible for Healthy Way LA (HWLA). HWLA is a NO COST, County-run program that gives patients access to high quality medical care. With HWLA, patients choose a permanent medical home at one of more than 200 Department of Health Services (DHS) or Non-Profit community clinic sites. DHS began this program in July 2011 and approximately 130,000 have enrolled. These patients will be fully Medi-Cal eligible beginning in January 2014 as part of Health Care Reform!
The GR population has been a challenge to enroll for many reasons, including the fact that the majority (up to 60%), are homeless. As such, many lack identification or a birth certificate or passport. To facilitate enrollment in June, DHS plans to implement an Auto-Enrollment process where all eligible GR recipients who are not currently enrolled in HWLA will automatically be enrolled, with a secondary process for verifying of citizenship and residency for those not born in California.
As of this month, there are approximately 57,000 GR patients in Los Angeles County, of which approximately 12,000 were already enrolled in HWLA or did not qualify. Approximately 18,000 of these individuals have a history of care at either a DHS or Community Partner clinic, and will be auto-assigned to a medical home at those sites. The remaining 27,000 patients will be given a choice and asked to self-select a medical home provider. GR clients will be contacted via letter and/or phone (where available) on or around June 25th, and will informed that they have been enrolled in HWLA. If they have a history of being seen at a local clinic, they will be notified that this is their medical home, and given instructions on how to change it if they wish to. If they have no history at a clinic, we will be providing them with information on how to select one.
It is important for homeless service providers to know that they will not (or should not) be receiving mail for the GR population related to their enrollment in the HWLA program. If a shelter or social service provider is listed as the address for a GR recipient, their HWLA welcome letters should be mailed to the recipient's DPSS office. If by chance a welcome letter is sent to a shelter, or if you receive a question about the HWLA program from a GR recipient, please direct the GR recipient to the HWLA member services line (1-877-333-4952) and/or refer them to their DPSS office to obtain information.
Attached is a flyer that will give potential enrollees more information.
A list of participating medical providers in the HWLA program can be found here:
http://dhs.lacounty.gov/wps/PA_1_QDN2DSD30OTBC0IU3AR62I1000/DhsSites/HWLA/pdf/183617%20Provider%20Directory_Final%20WEB72711.pdf
We hope this information is helpful to you. If you have any questions, feel free to contact Amy Luftig Viste at aviste@ceo.lacounty.gov
