Molina Healthcare of California, Inc.

Molina Healthcare of California plans to assess the language capacity of a portion of its provider sites as part of its demonstration project and will also pilot after-hour telephone access for Spanish speakers to medical advice from a qualified nurse or physician. Molina will also work towards helping to establish training standards for telephonic interpreter services in the region by working with local vendors.

About the Organization

With health plans in four states and 21 primary care clinics throughout California, Molina Healthcare ranks 8th on the 2003 Hispanic Business 500 and is the largest Latino-owned business in California. Molina is the only “for-profit” grantee in the demonstration effort.

Partners

California Association of Family Practice, Institute for Health Care Advancement, United Way, California Health Care Interpreters Association, California Literacy Foundation, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Mt. San Antonio College, and fifty community-based organizations.

About the Service Area

The focus of the demonstration project will be Riverside and San Bernardino Counties in California, an area about the size of the State of Virginia.

Click here to view a map of their service area.

Existing Language Services

Molina’s Director of Cultural and Linguistic Services has worked with Molina’s providers to raise awareness of cultural issues facing Latinos. Although a provider or staff person (in many cases both) who can speak Spanish works in 98% of Molina’s provider offices actual language capacity has not been fully assessed. Molina has an extensive inventory of Spanish-language material on health education topics, including HIV/AIDS, asthma, diabetes, immunizations and nutrition, along with membership information, a provider directory, and evidence of insurance coverage identification cards. Molina will work to improve the quality of these materials based on Hablamos Juntos recommended approaches.

The Latino Population in the Service Area

Latinos in 1990: 686,121
Latinos in 2000: 1,229,528
% Increase: 79.2%
Total Population: 3.2 million

Over the last two decades, the Latino population increased by over 300% and is presently the sixth largest Latino community in the nation. The Latino population comprises nearly 40% of the total population in these counties. The majority of immigrants (80%) are from Mexico, especially the regions of Oaxaca and northern Mexico. A small number of immigrants have arrived directly from Mexico, while most tend to settle in the region after first arriving in Los Angeles and, to a lesser extent, San Diego. Recently, the Latino population has become politically active, with Latino representatives in the State legislature and on City Councils throughout the region.

In a survey of Molina’s providers, 44% report that more than half of their patients speak Spanish with about 1/3 preferring Spanish. 70% of Molina’s members are under the age of 21. Preferred methods for learning include the use of videotape, as eight times more LEP Latinos own VCR’s than have Internet access at home.

The most common diagnoses for ER visits and in-patient visits relate to reproductive services and respiratory illness. With a young population, demand for reproductive services is likely to increase. Survey respondents identified difficulties in locating health resources in Spanish, filling out forms. Understanding information at pharmacies, where the pharmacist may not speak Spanish and medication information is not available in Spanish, was also identified.

Website: www.molinahealthcare.com

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