Empowering Latinx physicians, medical professionals and medical students through education, advocacy & health policy to support their efforts to eliminate health disparity, promote and optimize health and the quality of life for Latinx in California.
By Daniela Hernandez
KHN Staff Writer
EAST PALO ALTO, Calif. − In Silicon Valley, the executives and engineers who’ve helped build the Apple, Google and Facebook empires earn high salaries and enjoy a slew of perks, including stellar health benefits.
The clients of the Ravenswood Family Health Center, a community clinic in East Palo Alto just two miles away from Facebook’s sprawling headquarters, live in a very different Silicon Valley.
They’re the gardeners, nannies, factory workers and service staff who keep Silicon Valley homes and offices humming, the lawns manicured and the families comfortable.
They are also, in many ways, a microcosm of the population the Affordable Care Act was meant to help.
Many earn between $5 and $15 an hour, don’t own or use computers and are more comfortable speaking Spanish than English. Sixty-five percent of East Palo Alto’s population is Latino, a group seen as crucial to the success of the health law. Many lack health insurance and pose a lower financial risk because they are typically younger and healthier than others.
Yet California, with the greatest number of Latinos in the country, is far behind in reaching this population. And across the nation, the picture appears even worse.
Continue reading this article on Kaiser Health News.
Find out how you as a professional healthcare provider can help your eligible Latino patients get enrolled in Covered California on Saturday, January 25. Click here for more information and to register.
