By now, everyone who hasn’t been actively trying to avoid national news knows at least something about the changes that may be brought about by the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act (“PPACA”), which is more commonly known as “Obamacare.”
As of Jan. 1, 2014, organizations that promote health care plans to the general public must have in place a system of providing information to all persons eligible to participate in the PPACA. Because the PPACA is designed to be universal in nature, this naturally would include persons who may not speak or read much, if any, English at all. In fact, it is estimated that persons with Limited English Proficiency (“LEP”) accounted for 9 percent of the US population in 2010.
In which languages must health care plans be available?
Because the PPACA is designed to provide coverage for all Americans, regardless of what language they may read or speak, health insurance providers must provide at least some written summary information about health care options in languages that participants can understand. Specifically, the PPACA requires the following:
The information required to be [provided to participants] shall be provided in plain language. The term “plain language” means language that the intended audience, including individuals with limited English proficiency, can readily understand and use.
But, given how many different languages that are spoken by various populations of participants within the United States, how is this to be fairly determined?
The PPACA does not require that information regarding health insurance options be made available in every possible language. Rather, it sets forth a “threshold” calculation to assist health insurance providers in this respect. For example, if more than 5 percent of participants utilize Spanish, Russian, or Hindi as their primary language, all of the written information regarding the health insurance options required by the PPACA must be translated into those respective languages.
Moreover, if health insurance organizations operate in more than one region or state, they must take into account the various states’ populations and their own specific language requirements.
A great example of one of the most diverse states is California. California’s Department of Managed Care publishes a list of languages common in California, which includes English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean, Tagalog, Russian, Armenian, Khmer and Arabic. Thus, any required written materials regarding PPACA options that are to be distributed in California must be made available in at least those languages.
Which materials must be translated?
The PPACA does not require that every piece of literature be translated into the relevant languages understood by the participants in a given state or region.
Although the answer is not yet absolutely clear as to the entire universe of documents that will need to be translated to comply with the PPACA, it is clear that summary of benefits and coverage documents, as well as glossary of terms will need to be translated into relevant languages.
Additionally, some analysts have suggested that other documents that have traditionally been subject to translation requirements pursuant to Medicaid and Medicare regulations will also need to be translated to satisfy PPACA guidelines.
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