Medicare can sometimes feel confusing, especially for people who speak English as a second language.
UnitedHealthcare operates Asian Resource Centers across the country to help them navigate the health care system by providing customer service support and health education programs customized for Medicare beneficiaries in Asian-American communities.
The first Asian Resource Center was founded in 1994 in Chinatown in New York City. Since then, UnitedHealthcare has opened 10 storefronts across the country with resources and languages specific to the needs of each community.
The newest location is the Buena Park Asian Health Benefits Resource Center, which provides access to customer service and health education for approximately 45,000 Asian-American Medicare recipients in Orange County. With an onsite customer support center, community members can discuss health benefits in English, Korean, Chinese and Vietnamese.
In addition to Buena Park, UnitedHealthcare has a storefront in the Koreatown neighborhood of Los Angeles, and in the Alhambra Asian Plaza in the San Gabriel Valley.
Recently celebrating its 10th anniversary, the Alhambra location serves more than 160,000 Asian-American Medicare beneficiaries in Los Angeles County, with customer service professionals available to discuss health benefits in English, Cantonese or Mandarin. Medicare beneficiaries and their caregivers can visit the resource centers to learn about their Medicare coverage options, participate in health and wellness seminars and also get assistance with translation of documents, including materials not related to their Medicare plan, such as documents related to Social Security benefits or obtaining a driver’s license.