Oakland Community Voices is working to leave no immigrant regardless of his or her immigration status behind. Newcomers to California are often faced with a lack of health insurance, which used to mean a lack of care. Now the Asian Health Services/La Clinica Community Voices for Immigrant Health Project has developed Family Care, a comprehensive, subsidized health insurance product designed for low-income families who do not qualify for government health assistance programs. Family Care includes medical coverage, dental coverage, prescriptions, maternity care, mental health services, acupuncture, chiropractic services, and family planning. Immigration status is not considered as an eligibility criterion for the program, and uninsured immigrant families are the primary targets. La Clinica also plays an important role as a community builder as well as a health services provider. By providing important jobs and job training to the area, La Clinica acknowledges the important link between poverty and health status. 

Project Scope

Immigration is a key issue impacting the health of California. More than 6.5 million people are uninsured. The largest percentages of these are Latino (36 percent) and Asian and Pacific Islanders (23 percent). In Alameda County alone there are an estimated 120,000 uninsured Latinos and Asian and Pacific Islanders.  State, local, and national policy changes have had a major impact on immigrants throughout the state.

Immigrants face a large number of health challenges.  The area's Asian population exhibits high rates of cancer, asthma, diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. For Latinos, heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, asthma, and HIV/AIDS rank among major health issues. Substance abuse and violence also are challenges for all communities.

The Community Voices for Immigrant Health Project is working with the Alameda Health Consortium and other local partners to develop innovative community-based solutions to address the complex issues related to access to health care for uninsured immigrant populations. Expansion and increased enrollment in MediCal, Healthy Families, and California's Children's Health Insurance Program are key policy objectives. Only through the broad inclusion and integration of services will the health of all immigrants in California and around the nation be improved.

Project Activities

The project already has worked with the Alameda Alliance for Health, the local nonprofit managed care plan, to develop Family Care, a subsidized, affordable health care coverage product. In addition, the project has conducted focus groups among the small business employers and the working poor in the Latino and Asian and Pacific Islander communities to develop or improve affordable insurance products that fully address the needs of these populations. This project will also seek input from immigrant communities about the impact of policies and health access barriers. Special attention will be paid to ensure that the various multi-ethnic populations of the Latino, Asian, and Pacific Islander communities will be well represented in community forums. This project is also supported through funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Office of Minority Health.

Other activities include a survey of the uninsured in Alameda County, work groups, an issue paper, and community outreach. These activities are specifically designed to:

• Educate immigrant communities and inform them about insurance and health coverage;
• Expand immigrants' eligibility for health programs;
• Work to enable social services to be included in health coverage;
• Develop alternative models of financing affordable health coverage;
• Document effective strategies for outreach and health coverage enrollment in immigrant communities; and
• Document and date in-depth information about uninsured immigrants for continuing advocacy.

Community Involvement

The Community Voices for Immigrant Health Project will collaborate with the Alameda Health Consortium to replicate the model program of integrated services developed with Asian Health Services and La Clinica to other community health centers in the country. The project will also collaborate with organized labor and small business in immigrant communities to seek input.

Increased awareness of the special needs of immigrants and the education of immigrants about the help available to them are key strategies to improving health. Involvement in the policy process and outreach to ethnic-specific radio, newspapers and cable channels are helping to remove barriers to care. The Community Voices for Immigrant Health Project is also partnering with a variety of health organizations and ethnic networks to increase awareness of the health risks of limited access to care.

Through the creation of an integrated community health system of care for the working poor and uninsured immigrants, the Community Voices for Immigrant Health Project is working to:

• Change or limit the impact of policies that create barriers for immigrants;
• Improve and/or develop insurance products that more fully address the needs of immigrants; and
• Support efforts currently underway at the Alameda Health Consortium by working together to develop social and other support services.

La Clinica contributes to the economic development of the Fruitvale district by serving as the community's single largest employer. La Clinica also provides training to help people move into the health care field. La Linica also draws people to the businesses in the Fruitvale; many of our 17,000 clients patronize local businesses, stimulating economic growth in the community.