Access to Health Care for People and Pets in Los Angeles

Health Care Access

Pilot or new project, program, or initiative

Families struggling to access veterinary care is a national crisis. 28% of families with pets report a barrier to veterinary care primarily because they could not afford it. Along with the negative health outcomes of those affected by this, millions of animals are being surrendered in local city shelters or economically euthanized. It is estimated that 981,765 LA households have pets. 2 pets (dogs/cats) per household means that there are approximately 1,963,530 owned pets in LA. Further, 289,301 families in the City of LA have annual household incomes below $25k - less than $2.1k per month. Using national estimates indicates that approx. 200k of these families combined, have over 400k pets. Given the high average rent for apartments in LA, veterinary care is not affordable for these families. There have been inadequate solutions to this overwhelming problem, lack of resources and effective collaborations to make the large-scale impact needed to fix this problem. Enter AlignCare.

AlignCare ensures that low-income families who previously were unable to afford veterinary care are able to get the services needed for their nonhuman family members. Families receiving public assistance and who are in need of veterinary care are enrolled into AlignCare and are connected with social service professionals and veterinary service providers. Through a cost-sharing model, AlignCare makes veterinary care obtainable for families. Veterinary service providers discount their services for AlignCare families, AlignCare families pay a 20% co-payment, and AlignCare pays the remaining balance. AlignCare improves access to veterinary care, resulting in better health outcomes for both human and nonhuman family members. Injured or ill pets will experience quicker recovery due to veterinary care, with fewer experiencing premature death, including by euthanasia, or relinquishment, thus keeping families together. Families receive the emotional support needed when faced with a medical crisis involving a pet.

As AlignCare LA is in its initial growth stages, the following are our goals as we continue to scale: -Increased collaboration between veterinary medicine, human medicine, and human social services providers -Obtaining annual government funding for the program. -Changes in transportation policies to allow pets -Changes to housing policies to allow families to keep their pets in their homes. Restrictive landlords are the top reason for pet surrender. -Environmental improvements in terms of increased green spaces, walkable communities, and accessible dog parks. -The health impacts to the human family members of NOT being able to care for their non-human family member. -Continued research into issues where pets can affect their family's overall health and well-being, including; *PTSD treatment *Childhood anxiety *Smoking cessation *Type 1 Diabetes *Loneliness *Memory disorders *Early exposure of pets on allergies *Heart health *Aging *Impacts of a pandemic

Impact is measured through the number of families and pets who receive veterinary services. Surveys with AlignCare families are also conducted to measure the impact of access to veterinary care on the family. Additional grant funds obtained from California for All Pets grant will be used to focus services on three specific zip codes where the animal shelters see the highest rate of owner surrenders. We will look at shelter intake statistics to determine if our program has impacted reducing shelter intake at North Central and Harbor Shelters.

The Program for Pet Health Equity provides budget oversight, invoice processing, data collection, analysis, and reporting.