Employers are expected to get benefit of 25% or more
Health Net of California has expanded its health insurance program, Salud con Health Net, which is offered to Latino workers on both sides of the United States/Mexico border for nine years, into San Diego County.
The company said that its Salud HMO y Mas program is being offered to employers and employees of small and mid-sized businesses between the Mexico border and Los Angeles County and also is available in Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Employers who have purchased this plans are expected to get benefit of 25% or more, compared to similar Health Net plans offered in the same local markets.
The company claims that Salud HMO y Mas can potentially reduce the number of uninsured and alleviate the number of patients seeking care from emergency rooms because its members are able to pay for the care they receive and have direct access to their own primary care physician.
Health Net’s contracted network of Mexico-based health care providers is made available by Sistema Medicos Nacionales, the Mexican health plan licensed and overseen by the California Department of Managed Health Care, the same regulatory body that oversees HMOs doing business in California.
Ana Andrade, vice president of Latino Programs for Health Net of California, said: “Since the 2000 introduction of our Salud con Health Net suite of products and services, membership has grown to more than 35,000 customers drawn by the products’ access to quality, culturally sensitive and culturally competent health care from doctors, specialists and hospitals both here in the United States or just across the Mexican border.”