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California HMOs to Provide Interpreters
alifornia has taken the first step towards giving non-English speaking patients equal access to healthcare. At a press conference yesterday at Asian Health Services in Oakland’s Chinatown, community groups lauded the release of the first draft of regulations by California’s Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) that requires all HMO plans in California to provide healthcare in the patients’ primary language.
This brings private health plans up to the standards that are already in place in the public programs, MediCal and the state’s Healthy Family Program. Uninsured Californians still have no guarantee that they will be able to access interpretive services.
The regulations come out of a law (Senate Bill 853) authored by Sen. Martha Escutia of Los Angeles and passed by California voters in 2003. Following input from community groups and the public, the DMHC will put together a final draft later this year.
For Nghi Pham, who came to this country 10 years ago as a refugee from Vietnam, access to an interpreter means the difference between receiving adequate care and going home without understanding the doctor’s treatment plan – or not seeing the doctor at all.
“I tried to learn English but at my age English is still a big barrier for me, especially in health care,” said Pham, speaking with the help of an interpreter. “We had to wait for hours and hours (to see a doctor) before being sent home, without understanding why we were sent home.”
More
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=7462c62757190bd237d77959448b50e4
The regulations come out of a law (Senate Bill 853) authored by Sen. Martha Escutia of Los Angeles and passed by California voters in 2003. Following input from community groups and the public, the DMHC will put together a final draft later this year.
For Nghi Pham, who came to this country 10 years ago as a refugee from Vietnam, access to an interpreter means the difference between receiving adequate care and going home without understanding the doctor’s treatment plan – or not seeing the doctor at all.
“I tried to learn English but at my age English is still a big barrier for me, especially in health care,” said Pham, speaking with the help of an interpreter. “We had to wait for hours and hours (to see a doctor) before being sent home, without understanding why we were sent home.”
More
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=7462c62757190bd237d77959448b50e4
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