Healthcare Industry News > Law requires Spanish Translation for health insurance plans in California

Law requires Spanish Translation for health insurance plans in California

The California legislature passed a law in 2003 requiring interpreters and translated materials be made available through private insurance plans paid for by the 1.1 million state residents who have little or no English language skills.  These rules are to be implemented by 2008 and fines for those who do not comply with the new law will begin in 2009.  This change in the law is expected to cost several million dollars but has received mixed responses.

K. C. McAlpin who runs ProEnglish in Washington D. C. believed those funds could be better spent on medical personnel instead of on translators.  However, Rob Toonkel, a spokesman for U. S. English, believes having an interpreter available should be expected.  After all, we would hope a translator would be available if we became sick in a non-English speaking country.

Although no deaths have been reported in connection with the current communication limitations in California, Marbella Sala who runs UC Davis’ Center for Reducing Health Disparities in Sacramento has seen a few cases that illustrate why the law change was important.  For example, one husband acting as a translator lied to his wife about how she had contracted a venereal disease and a child became so emotional when describing the risks of surgery to her mother that her mother canceled the operation.

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