Health Hut

CCAH opens a new office in Salinas as health care reform kicks in.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

The day after President Barack Obama signed the national health care overhaul bill, the Central California Alliance for Health - the closest thing we have to a public option - celebrated the opening of its new downtown Salinas office at 339 Pajaro Street, Suite E.

CCAH is a nonprofit, public health plan that serves about 86,000 Monterey County residents, mostly Medi-Cal and Health Families enrollees. (It also serves residents of Santa Cruz and Merced counties under contract with the state.)

“The Alliance is a critical hub in our health care community,” stated Supervisor Jane Parker, who sits on the Alliance’s board. “It has improved access to local health care services to our underserved residents for the last 10 years and has been a statewide model for quality and efficiency."

The new federal health care bill may allow as many as 2 million Californians to enroll in Medi-Cal and other public health services for low-income residents, according to a CCAH press release.

In partnership with more than 600 in-county providers, CCAH provides health care services for less than the cost of Medi-Cal. The state Deparment of Health Care Services has ranked CCAH at the top of 36 county-organized health systems in the state for three years in a row.

"By arranging timely access to preventive care and medical services, the Alliance operates more efficiently than the State’s Medi-Cal program,” stated Alan McKay, Executive Director of the Alliance. “Better access, better care, more efficient...everybody wins.”