More than 200 self-advocates, health care professionals, Medi-Cal health plan representatives, researchers and community partners came together in Los Angeles for the Disability Health Care Summit hosted by Disability Voices United.
Listening to Lived Experience
Throughout the summit, experts and people with lived experience shared what more responsive, compassionate care can look like for people with disabilities. Together, they explored the challenges disabled patients continue to face and the changes that can make a meaningful difference across health care policy and practice.
The conversations centered on seven areas that can shape a person’s health care at every stage of life:
- Transitioning from pediatric to adult care
- Preventive care
- Dental care
- Behavioral health
- Emergency medical services and medicine
- Coordination and navigation of health care and other services
- Aging with disabilities
By bringing these voices and perspectives together, the summit invited participants to look beyond individual services and consider how the entire health care journey can better meet the needs of people with disabilities.
Learning Together
Dr. Ari Ne’eman, Assistant Professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, opened the conversation by drawing on both his research and lived experience as an autistic person in his keynote address.
Participants also heard from Melanie Fontes Rainer, who led civil rights work at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Tam Ma, who served in senior health policy roles under California Governors Gavin Newsom and Jerry Brown; and Brendan McCarthy, Senior Legislative Advocate for Health and Human Services at the California State Association of Counties.
Health Net team members also added their expertise to the conversation, including Dr. David Austin, Medical Director, Medical Affairs; Dr. Timothy Martinez, Dental Director; and Sarika Kasaraneni, JD, MBA, MPH, Director of Health Equity at Health Net.
Together, speakers and participants shared perspectives shaped by personal experience, advocacy, health care, policy and public service—creating space to listen, learn and move the conversation forward.
Building Toward Solutions
The summit built on months of research and collaboration. A landscape analysis helped identify challenges people with disabilities face when seeking care, while an advisory committee brought together diverse perspectives from across California to help shape the conversation and priorities. These efforts informed discussions focused on practical recommendations for managed care plans, providers and policymakers.
Carrying the Conversation Forward
The conversation will continue beyond the summit. Disability Voices United plans to release a report in early 2027 that brings together recommendations developed through the landscape analysis, advisory committee process landscape discussions. The findings will be shared with managed care plans, policymakers and other health care leaders across California to help advance more accessible, accommodating and person-centered care.
Health Net is proud to walk alongside Disability Voices United in supporting the Disability Health Care Summit. When we listen to people with lived experience and bring advocates, families, health care leaders and policymakers together, we can help shape a health care system that is more accessible, responsive and centered on the people it serves.
Together, we can turn what we heard into meaningful action and help create a better health care experience for Californians with disabilities.