MPTF & UCLA

UCLA, Motion Picture and Television Fund Plan Health System Integration

MPTF - UCLA Press Release


Customer FAQs


What is MPTF announcing?

MPTF has announced that it has signed a Letter of Intent with UCLA Health System that would bring MPTF's six outpatient health center under the UCLA umbrella. This means that the MPTF Health Centers will become co-branded with UCLA Health System, and the staff and doctors will become UCLA employees when the deal is finalized in mid 2014.


How will this affect me and other entertainment industry members using MPTF for their health care?

This is a positive evolution of the MPTF health centers. Our industry members will remain under the care of the same physicians and have access to the same specialists in the network; the health centers will remain EXCLUSIVE to the entertainment community; and, in addition to the personal, high-quality care that you are used to, they will now have unprecedented access to the premier specialty care and innovation that UCLA is known for.


Will this cost me more money?

No. The MPTF-UCLA relationship in no way affects your coverage or benefit structure with your health plan. Your premiums, co-pays, and deductibles are not impacted. MPTF is not a health plan. It is a primary care outpatient medical group, in addition to being a 92-year-old charity that provides social services, senior care, a renowned retirement facility, and a safety net of programs and services for the entertainment industry. Your eligibility and the type of benefits you have, as well as your insurance plan options and your coverage are decided by your health plan not by MPTF. But your out-of-pockets and premiums will not be affected by this.


How will this affect my doctor and the health center staff?

For the most part, it will be "business as usual" for physicians and staff although they will have a different employer once the transition is completed. Our physicians will join the Faculty Practice Group at UCLA and many of them will become clinical educators and Assistant Professors at the David Geffen School of Medicine. They will continue to work at the health centers and see entertainment industry members exclusively. Our health center staff will be employed by UCLA and enjoy the compensation and benefits plans of the UC system. They too will continue to work at the health centers. Everyone - physicians, staff, patients - will have the additional enhancement of being part of a larger and nationally recognized health system with a public benefit mission.


When is this going to happen?

We expect full integration of the MPTF health system into UCLA's by the middle of 2014. Until then, there won't be noticeable change and the physicians and staff will remain under the same employment arrangements as today. MPTF is announcing the signing of a Letter of Intent, which is the first step toward completing this goal. Next up is a definitive agreement, which will need to be approved by the MPTF Board of Directors and the UC Regents. We don't expect this will be a problem. After that, we will be spending approximately four months on integration so that on the day we "go live" with UCLA, there is minimal disruption. We will continue to communicate our expectations in connection with this over the next few months.


What other MPTF outpatient services will be operated by UCLA?

All outpatient health services will be operated by UCLA when the final agreement is completed. Those services include Lab, Radiology, GI Lab, Ambulatory Surgery, Palliative Care, the Age Well program, and Health Wheels, our mobile medical van.


What programs are NOT being operated by UCLA?

Programs that will remain under the sole operation of MPTF include "The Home" (all levels of residential care on our campus), our 40-bed long term care unit, our 30-bed memory impairment unit, the new geriatric psychiatry unit, and all social services programs, such as financial assistance, Elder Connection, our Home Safety Program, and many others. In fact, MPTF social services will remain embedded in all health centers.


Will the health centers remain where they are?

There are plans in place today, unrelated to this announcement, to relocate the Bob Hope Health Center in Hollywood and the Jack Skirball Health Center in Woodland Hills. MPTF recently sold the building where the Bob Hope Health Center is located and is seeking a more contemporary environment in the same general neighborhood. MPTF also has alternative plans for the space currently being used for the Jack Skirball Health Center on the Wasserman Campus and is considering other nearby locations.


Will I have to use only UCLA specialists and hospitals?

No. UCLA Health will continue with The Industry Health Network, which includes over 500 physician specialists and sub-specialists from around the Los Angeles basin. Our primary care physicians, all of whom will be asked to continue with UCLA, will continue to refer you to the specialist or sub-specialist that they believe is right for you and will do the best job caring for whatever medical issue you may have. They may be associated with UCLA, but in many cases they will not. As UCLA expands its own reach into various local geographies and brings local specialists into their Medical Group, those physicians will become part of The Industry Health Network as well.


Can I still get my annual physical at MPTF?

Your annual physical (CPE) is a benefit provided by your health plan and therefore not something we can commit to. We hope that this benefit will continue, however, and if it does, we plan to see you at one of our health centers! Whether it has the MPTF brand, the UCLA brand, or both brands on the front door, you will continue to get the highest quality care by the same doctors and clinical staff that you have seen in the past.


Why is MPTF doing this?

Like many other relatively small primary care practices, we were concerned by the demands and requirements of the changing healthcare environment in the United States. These requirements are many, they are complex, and they are urgent. Our concern that these demands would overwhelm the charitable resources of the organization caused us to realize that sometimes "Taking Care of Our Own" is best served by joining up and leveraging the capabilities of a renowned partner. We believe that aligning with UCLA Health System, a renowned medical and academic institution, is the best thing we can do today to ensure long-term continuity for our patients and physicians. It is our way of future-proofing the amazing healthcare we already provide as well as the physician-patient relationship that we know is so important to our entertainment community. It is only because of the highly rated care delivered by our primary care physicians and clinical staff today that we were able to attract a world-class organization like UCLA Health System.


Why UCLA?

We set out looking for a strong cultural and strategic fit for MPTF. After a series of meetings with UCLA and other potential partners, the MPTF leadership team and Board felt that in UCLA we have found a partner who shares in the MPTF philosophy of care, with a high priority on patient engagement and keeping industry members and their families healthy and available to work. Joining with an organization that US News & World Report calls #1 in the West was an exciting opportunity and on their side UCLA showed great enthusiasm for this merger and great respect for our physicians and clinical staff and preserving the patient-physician relationship. The MPTF-UCLA relationship broadens an existing collaboration between us: a geriatric psychiatry unit on MPTF's Wasserman Campus in Woodland Hills, which we have been working on together for several months, will open by the end of the year. We feel incredibly fortunate to align with the UCLA Health System and think our entertainment industry members will enjoy many additional benefits from the relationship.

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