UCLA Health’s Commitment to Medi-Cal Patients

(Updated September 23, 2026)

UCLA Health is deeply committed to serving California's Medi-Cal population and ensuring equitable access to world-class care for underserved communities throughout the region.

UCLA Health is among the region's largest providers of care for Medi-Cal beneficiaries, a major source of advanced specialty services, a critical destination for high-acuity transfers, and an essential participant in serving vulnerable populations across Los Angeles County.

What type of financial commitment does UCLA Health make to Medi-Cal patients?

  • In the most recent fiscal year, UCLA Health provided more than $270 million in unreimbursed care for Medi-Cal patients, including broader financial assistance and other in-kind services; the annual figure exceeds $420 million.
  • Among other major Los Angeles hospitals that provide complex care, UCLA Health accounts for approximately 57% of the Medi-Cal inpatient census.

How many Medi-Cal patients does UCLA Health treat each year?

  • Medi-Cal patients comprised 26% of 336,600 inpatient days and 34% of 156,000 emergency department visits in UCLA Health hospitals in the most recent fiscal year. UCLA Health receives more Medi-Cal patient transfers than any other payor, including all commercial insurance payors and Medicare. 
  • In addition to the care we provide to Medi-Cal patients at UCLA Health facilities, our UCLA Health physicians and staff provide care at other locations serving a high volume of Medi-Cal beneficiaries, including: 
    • Venice Family Clinic, a federally qualified health center, exclusively staffed by UCLA Health employees
    • Luskin Orthopaedic Institute for Children
    • LA County Ambulatory Primary Care Network, Mid-Valley Comprehensive Health Center in the San Fernando Valley
    • Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital
  • UCLA Health disproprortionaly cares for some of the region’s most medically complex patients, many of whom require highly specialized, resource-intensive treatments.
  • UCLA Health’s Department of Pediatrics is coordinating with partner organizations, such as Venice Family Clinic, to find other solutions to continue care for specialty pediatric Medi-Cal patients that aren’t eligible for California Children’s Services (CCS).
  • Capacity remains a critical consideration. UCLA Health's hospitals and clinics are operating under significant capacity constraints. A sustainable delivery system depends on academic medical centers providing highly specialized and tertiary care services, while a broader network of community-based health systems delivering lower-acuity care.  This coordinated approach expands access, preserves capacity for the sickest patients, and strengthens the overall safety-net system.

What agreements does UCLA Health have with insurers offering Medi-Cal coverage?

  • UCLA Health has numerous contractual agreements with insurers offering patients Medi-Cal coverage, including L.A. Care Health Plan.
  • Through the contract with L.A. Care, UCLA Health is serving the population of the largest individual Medi-Cal Managed Care health plan in the United States, with more than 2.3 million enrollees.
  • UCLA Health also maintains direct Medi-Cal relationships across multiple Medi-Cal health plans and public agencies.
    • With these contracts, more than 4 million Medi-Cal patients have access to care through UCLA Health. We expand this reach even further through thousands of one-time agreements with noncontracted Medi-Cal organizations.
  • These contracted partnerships are critical to expanding access to UCLA Health's specialized clinical services for Medi-Cal beneficiaries throughout Southern California and beyond.

What happened with UCLA Health’s contract with Health Care LA, IPA (HCLA)?

  • UCLA Health has engaged in good-faith negotiations with HCLA and has worked diligently to ensure continuity of care for patients and families to minimize disruptions, and we will continue to do so.
  • Contract renewal discussions with HCLA began in 2025 and continued more formally in February 2026, with the objective of establishing a new agreement that would allow UCLA Health to continue to serve HCLA members. The parties participated in active exchanges and had multiple meetings.
  • UCLA Health sought solutions that would allow continued care for patient populations, including approximately 4,000 pediatric patients, but those alternatives were not accepted by HCLA.
  • After six months of UCLA Health’s renewal efforts, HCLA was unwilling to renew a contract that had outdated language and rates from 2009 and abruptly ended negotiations hours before the contract was to expire on June 30, 2026.
  • Ultimately, UCLA Health agreed to a bridge agreement with HCLA that allows certain highly specialized services to continue while HCLA and L.A. Care diversify their tertiary and quaternary network to meet network adequacy requirements. The parties have also established a transition process that permits certain existing patients with scheduled appointments to be seen.
  • UCLA Health and HCLA will continue working together over the coming months to identify appropriate care options for current patients seeking services, recognizing that responsibility for maintaining provider networks, arranging referrals and coordinating access rests with the patient’s health plan and with HCLA as the delegated physician organization.
  • Our shared goal is to ensure that patients are connected to the most appropriate available provider and receive timely access to care, while minimizing disruption and supporting continuity throughout this transition period.

Are there other ways UCLA Health is supporting underserved populations?

  • UCLA Health has made more than a half billion dollar investment in creating a state-of-the-art neuropsychiatric hospital with inpatient beds, a crisis stabilization unit and outpatient partial hospitalization programs in the Mid-Wilshire neighborhood of Los Angeles. The facility will greatly expand access to mental health care for adults, children and adolescents, serving as the hub for one of the most vulnerable populations in Los Angeles.
  • UCLA Health operates numerous community clinics in underserved communities, and our Homeless Healthcare Collaborative mobile vans provide primary care and mental health support to unhoused adults and children in Greater Los Angeles.
  • Our commitment to underserved communities is demonstrated not only by the patients we care for within UCLA Health facilities, but also by the substantial investments, partnerships, training programs and community-based services we support throughout Los Angeles County.
  • UCLA Health was the first hospital in the state to receive Joint Commission Accreditation for Health Equity.
  • UCLA Health resident physicians serve on the Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Health Care team in 57 medical specialties. Our faculty are involved in 3,000 surgeries, and more than one million patient visits each year for more than 80,000 veterans.
  • Nearly 20 years ago, UCLA Health established a partnership with the U.S. military to create Operation Mend. The program, which is available at no cost to veterans or service members, provides advanced surgical and medical treatment, comprehensive psychological evaluation and support, and intensive treatment programs for symptoms related to PTSD. Operation Mend is a member of the Warrior Care Network. 

Why is UCLA Health’s safety-net contribution understated in UC Health’s annual financial report?

  • Unlike some other UC academic health systems, UCLA Health's reported net patient service revenue does not include care delivered at affiliated county hospitals, safety-net facilities and community clinics.
  • UCLA Health physicians and trainees provide substantial care at many facilities including Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Olive View-UCLA Medical Center, Venice Family Clinic, Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital and other community-based programs serving vulnerable populations. These sites care for disproportionately high numbers of Medi-Cal patients.
  • Because the associated patient revenue is not included in UCLA Health's financial statements, revenue-based comparisons understate UCLA Health's overall contribution to caring for Medi-Cal beneficiaries and other underserved patients. In contrast, similar safety-net facilities and clinics are included in the reported financial results of some other UC academic health systems.