Student group works to connect individuals with health care resources

A line of parents wrapped around an Inglewood middle school Saturday while UCLA volunteers met with families one by one to go over health care insurance options.

As she stood with her young daughter, Diana Pool said she attended the event over the weekend to learn more about the insurance plans for which her family qualifies.

“These events help me to find benefits for my family and to know how we are doing with our health,” Pool said.

The event was hosted by Connecting Californians to Care, a UCLA student group that works with clinics and organizations across Los Angeles County to provide information about health care coverage to members of the community who may lack medical insurance knowledge.

UCLA medical students Caleb Wilson, Jeff Fujimoto and Brandon Scott started the group last fall because they felt like they were trapped within the classroom. They said they had forgotten what it was like to actually work and talk with other people in a setting outside their school environment.

“As a medical student at this stage, we can be limited in terms of how impactful our interactions with patients are,” Scott said. “With this, we’re providing knowledge for someone that can change their life.”

CCTC is part of the UCLA chapter of the American Medical Association, composed of about 50 volunteers from the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine and the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, and about 40 UCLA undergraduate student volunteers.

Student volunteers aim to help members of the community determine whether they want to participate in certain insurance programs, such as Medi-Cal and Covered California, as well as give an overview of the insurance coverage and plans and assist them with enrollment.

Scott said he remembers meeting an individual who was uninsured but actually eligible for health insurance last year. He said he told the man he no longer had to go to a free health clinic and helped him sign up for his own doctor.

“Stimulating those ‘aha’ moments – that can be a really cool thing,” Scott said. “In educating and providing these components, we are able to supplement medical education and add bits and pieces to explain how things work in the greater context of society.”

Nearly 45,000 deaths each year in the U.S. are associated with a lack of health insurance, according to a study from Harvard University. CCTC aims to lower this number of preventable deaths.

“One of the big problems with health care is people don’t know how to get health coverage and how to utilize it,” Fujimoto said. “It can be a confusing process.”

Fujimoto said he has seen the negative impacts of lacking access to health care: hospital bills that add up to bankruptcy and health issues that develop when people don’t come in for treatment.

“For those who don’t have money and insurance, an event like this can be very helpful,” said Bridget Fonokalafi, a woman from Inglewood who attended the CCTC event in the hopes of getting health insurance. “I previously had insurance, but in these hard economic times, I lost it, so events like these are beneficial.”

Dylan Roby, an assistant professor of health policy and management and faculty adviser for CCTC, said he oversees much of what goes on within the organization and advises the group on major health care policy decisions and issues.

Roby, who has worked in public health for almost 20 years, said he thinks CCTC provides community members with a valuable link to health insurance information. He said he thinks there can be a connection between having the ability to get care and avoiding disabilities or sicknesses.

He added that he enjoys being involved with the group because he admires the medical students for their time commitment toward school as well as running the community-focused organization.

“Ten years ago, I don’t think many students were as engaged as the students I’m seeing now,” Roby said. “Partially due to the passage of the Affordable Care Act and media attention around it, UCLA students are (generally) more engaged or more aware of health care issues.”

Fujimoto and Scott estimated that they have reached about 300 members in the community through various events held throughout their first year. They added that they hope to reach about 500 members this year.

“It’s an exciting time because we’re getting into something new,” Fujimoto said. “There are a lot of bumps along the road, but overall, it’s a fun experience to put together something and see it through and build it up.”