A familiar face to the Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP) family has been reappointed to California’s Independent Living Council.
Jose Solorzano, a physical accessibility review survey specialist with the Rancho Cucamonga-based health plan’s quality management team, will serve for another term after being designated for the position by Gov. Gavin Newsom in October.
“One of the biggest perspectives I have is focusing on people with disabilities and their resource to access, especially to health care services,” Solorzano said. “What we do as a council is focus on making sure seniors and people with disabilities have access to these programs and more.”
The State Independent Living Council is composed of 18 individuals responsible for:
- Allocating federal funding for independent living.
- Advising the governor and legislature on issues impacting persons living with disabilities.
- Implementing projects and forward-thinking ideas focused on enhancing the quality of life of people with disabilities.
- Assuring compliance with applicable state and federal laws.
All council appointees serve three-year terms.
Since joining IEHP in 2017, Solorzano’s story was featured in a video launched earlier this year to IEHP’s YouTube and on social media platforms where the Rialto resident shared his life’s journey (so far) and the significance behind his work. Today, Solorzano focuses on his mission to help others by being a voice of the underserved.
“There’s a continuous lack of knowledge out there because the needs of the disability community change every single year. There are different laws and a different perspective, but we all need to follow the guidelines,” he said. “At the end of the day, I see my job as removing barriers for our members and inviting providers to continue to provide services within the guidelines.”
Prior to IEHP, Solorzano was the disability and senior outreach coordinator for Molina Health Care and a benefits and resource specialist at Southern California Rehabilitation Services for Independent Living. He is also a member of the Inland Empire Disabilities Collaborative.
To learn more about the Independent Living Council, go to calsilc.ca.gov.