New Year Equals New Language Access Compliance Rules for California Health Plans

Language Line Services helps managed health care plans meet January 1, 2009 deadline to implement the requirements of the CA Language Assistance Program (CALAP)

Monterey, CA — (October  22, 2008) —  The countdown continues as California managed health care plans have fewer than 69 days before the state deadline to implement programs to meet California’s new language access requirements mandated by the California Language Assistance Program (CALAP). 

Although this state initiative has been embraced by California health plans as a solution to provide equal access to health care treatment and services for limited English speaking Californians, implementing its requirements has presented challenges.

“The passage of SB 853, which created the California Language Assistance Program, was an extremely important turning point for the expansion of quality health care in California,” said Louis Provenzano, President and COO of Language Line Services, a leading provider of language services. “That said, the diversity of available managed health care plans, coupled with the variety of different languages spoken in California, make the development of a language access program a complex process.”

Drawing from its vast experience developing multi-tiered language access for hospitals, 911 first responders and top fortune 500 companies, Language Line Services is consulting with several health plans around the state to help them comply with the requirements of CALAP. 

The company’s CALAP 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.

To further assist California health plans with the implementation of their CALAP programs and address key complexities to complying with the new requirements, Language Line Services held a complementary language access best practices roundtable and CALAP Q&A session in Los Angeles on October 7. 

Key implementation challenges that were addressed at this forum, and can be solved through Language Line Services’ CALAP Compliance Program, include:

• Verification of limited English speaking health plan members’ eligibility to prevent unauthorized use;
• Tracking use of Language Access Services through accurate data capture and reporting; and
• Seamless communication at all points of contact for a limited English speaking member.

“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,” noted Peggy Payne, Cultural & Linguistic Director for CIGNA HealthCare. “Although the development of a quality language access program is not a simple task, when you add up the millions of health plan enrollees who will no longer be at risk as a result of language barriers, this investment to enhance the delivery of our services becomes invaluable.”
 
For more information about the Language Line Services CALAP Compliance Program, contact Bill Crockett at 831-648-5899 or wcrockett@languageline.com or visit www.languageline.com/sb853

Side Bar: 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

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.