title: Using an alliance of independent health consumer assistance centers to change public policy in California.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The complexity of the U.S. health care system has created many obstacles for individuals and families trying to gain access to health insurance and health care services. With a multitude of payers and provider organizations, health consumers must navigate complex arrangements that vary by payer, community, and employer.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This report describes the Health Consumer Alliance (HCA), an innovative collaboration of legal service organizations in California that combines individual assistance with broad advocacy work. Specifically, this paper highlights HCA's role in addressing systemic health care access issues that underlie many of the problems that health consumers face.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In a 5-year period, the HCA assisted more than 60,000 individuals with problems related to obtaining access to care and health insurance coverage. The HCA used the information gained from this individual assistance to address both local and statewide policy issues by pooling the technical and political resources of individual health consumer centers (HCC) and their partners.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The HCA has improved access to health care for many individuals beyond its client base by protecting indigent health services, expanding eligibility for public programs, and preserving the safety net for California's low-income population. The HCA model can be example of how information from individual consumer problems can be addressed at a broader level to reach and impact systemic change.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine and Preventive Medicine, University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Michael R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Cousineau
authors.forename: Lori Miller
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Nascimento
authors.forename: Mabel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ponce
mesh_terms: D002140:California; D003254:Consumer Advocacy; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D008483:Medical Assistance / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011640:Public Policy