Cultivating Sales Across Cultural Lines
How to Maximize Your Yields from California’s Growing Diversity
The Coming Population Boom – You’re More than Ready
By Yanping Dong

California’s Department of Finance predicts that the state’s Latino population will grow 70% by 2020 –an increase of 7.8 million people. During the same period, we’ll see the Asian population grow by 48%, with the Chinese as the fastest-growing Asian subgroup in Southern California. A combination of population growth and growing income makes Latino and Asian residents a powerful and attractive emerging market for insurance brokers.
Brokers have an important opportunity to help guide ethnic clients safely through the labyrinth of healthcare. America has one of the most complex and expensive healthcare systems in the world. Finding the best healthcare coverage can be especially difficult for people who face language and cultural barriers.
   According to public health officials, language and cultural differences create barriers to early health screenings and contribute to a higher incidence and severity of certain diseases in ethnic populations, including the following:
• Latino women and double the mortality rate from cervical cancer of non-Latino women.
• Latino men and women have double the rate of gallbladder cancer compared to non-Latinos.
• Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have nine times the rate of liver cancer compared to Caucasian Americans
• Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders account for 50% of new cases of chronic hepatitis B.
   Brokers work hard to steer their clients to providers who strive to eliminate these cross-cultural health disparities. Brokers who serve these emerging markets successfully appreciate the richness of other cultures and their clients’ wide range of beliefs, needs, and concerns. They understand the importance of helping clients decipher their coverage options and access any cultural services providers may offer.
Brokers who succeed in attracting ethnic clients understand the barriers they face when trying to access care. They also help ethnic populations select the right health plan by explaining its strengths and weaknesses; recommend key ethnic medical professionals, including physician leaders in their communities; and offer strong after-sale services – from explaining claims to deciphering bills.
   Some providers recognize that culturally competent care takes more than providing interpreter services. It takes stripping away obstacles and streamlining access to care. Programs that improve access to care include scholarships, formal diversity programs, health education classes, and outreach campaigns.
   As more Latinos and Asians enter the mainstream, they’ll be looking for easy access to care they can trust and the tools they need to be their best at work and at life. This is good news for brokers. There will be many new opportunities to find solutions to their clients’ healthcare coverage needs.
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Yanping Dong is Kaiser Permanente’s director of sales for emerging markets in California. She’s building a team to make Kaiser Permanente the healthcare provider of choice for brokers serving the fast-growing Latino and Asian populations in California.
Before joining Kaiser Permanente, Yanping worked with several other healthcare organizations, guiding them in marketing and sales, and building an infrastructure to attract and retain diverse customers. A native of the province of Shandong in the People’s Republic of China, Yanping came to the US in 1988. She holds a master’s degree in international relations from San Francisco State University and a bachelor’s degree in English literature and linguistics from Shandong Teacher’s University in China. For more information contact Yanping Dong at (415) 512-6049 or e-mail her at yanpingdong@kp.org.