California Health Plans Have Just 100 Days to Comply With Language Assistance Program Requirements

[Harold Schiffman]

California Health Plans Have Just 100 Days to Comply With Language
Assistance Program Requirements of Senate Bill 853

Language Line Services Helping Managed Health Care Plans Meet July 1,
2008 Deadline

MONTEREY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The countdown begins today as
California managed health care plans have just 100 days before the
state deadline to file amendments to their quality assurance programs
providing written language assistance program policies and procedures.
This deadline brings millions of health plan enrollees with limited
English proficiency (LEP) one step closer to the goal of equal access
to health care treatment and services.

In 2003, the California legislature passed Senate Bill 853 mandating
that all health plans in the state provide LEP enrollees with language
assistance services. To ensure compliance with the new requirements
and standards outlined in Title 28 of the California Code of
Regulations, managed health care plans have until July 1, 2008 to file
in writing their proposed standards in four areas -- enrollee
assessment, provision of language assistance services, staff training,
and compliance monitoring.

"The passage of SB 853 was an important turning point for the delivery
of health care in California," explains Louis Provenzano, President
and COO of Language Line Services, the leading provider of language
services. "It was like taking a sledgehammer to the wall dividing LEP
health plan enrollees from the quality health care they deserve. We
are all working together to bring down that wall."

Language Line Services is consulting with several health plans around
the state to help them comply with the requirements of SB 853. The
company's SB 853 Compliance Program addresses all the components
needed to ensure a well-rounded and comprehensive language assistance
program, including policy planning and development, 24/7 access to
interpreters in 170 spoken languages and American Sign Language,
member outreach and customer service, document translation, medical
interpreter certification, and compliance auditing, among other
services.

"Each step taken by California health plans to comply with SB 853
brings us that much closer to our collective goal of eliminating the
language barriers that put millions of health plan enrollees at risk,
as well as help reduce health care disparities," adds José Martín,
Language Services Manager and Health Disparities Initiative Leader for
Contra Costa Health Services in Martinez, California.

"Many of California's approximately 120 full-service and specialized
health plans are preparing to submit their language assistance
programs in writing to the Department of Managed Health Care," reports
Jeanette Anders, Health Care Director with Language Line Services.
"The health plans we work with such as Aetna, Blue Cross of
California, and Kaiser Foundation, are diligently working to develop
and finalize comprehensive language assistance programs for limited
English proficient enrollees and making great progress."

According to the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, 3.4 million
of California's adult HMO enrollees (ages 18 to 64) speak a language
other than English at home. Of those, almost 30 percent report not
being able to speak English well or not at all. This population will
see the efforts of California health plans come to fruition by January
1, 2009, the state's deadline for health plans to implement their
language assistance programs.

For more information about the Language Line Services SB 853
Compliance Program, contact Jeanette Anders at 877-584-2545 or
janders at languageline.com or visit
http://www.languageline.com/page/sb853.

Top 10 Most Requested Foreign Languages in California


1.     Spanish
2.   Cantonese
3.   Mandarin
4.   Vietnamese
5.   Korean
6.   Russian
7.   Farsi
8.   Arabic
9.   Punjabi
10.   Tagalog


(1) Based on Language Line Services' demographic data 2007-2008


About Language Line Services

Language Line Services, the global leader in telephone interpreting
and total language solutions, serves clients in government, health
care, telecom, financial services, insurance and many other industries
by quickly connecting them to their customers, patients and sales
prospects in over 170 spoken languages and American sign language.
Growth of the language interpreting industry has soared with increased
immigration and government regulatory policies mandating that
organizations provide services to limited English speakers in their
own languages. Language Line Services is recognized as a trusted
partner to thousands of clients throughout the United States, Canada
and the United Kingdom, providing access to the industry's fastest
language interpreting service at highly competitive rates. For more
information about Language Line Services' suite of dynamic solutions
spanning telephone and video interpreting, document translation,
interactive software-based translation, interpreter training and
certification programs and regulatory compliance objectives, please
call +1 (877) 886-3885 or visit www.languageline.com.

http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20080324005291&newsLang=en

-- 
**************************************
N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to
its members
and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner
or sponsor of
the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who
disagree with a
message are encouraged to post a rebuttal. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)
*******************************************