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CHIA UPDATE - May 2003

May 30, 2003

Hmong Translation of CHIA’s Interpreters and Your Health Brochure has been completed and uploaded to the CHIA Website. This translation was compliments of Bill Glasser, from Language World, LLC, who has already contributed several translations. Thank you, Bill. The brochure is also printed in English, Spanish and Russian.    www.chia.ws/documents/chia_marketing_brochures.htm

Child Interpreter Bill Amended — Assemblyman Leland Yee’s (D – San Francisco) legislation to prohibit the children of patients with limited English proficiency from being interpreters was amended in the Assembly Appropriations Committee on Wednesday.  Amendments to AB 292 would change the age at which a child may legally interpret for a parent from 18 years of age to 15.  Several lobbying groups have requested that Dr. Yee further amend his bill to allow a child to interpret when a parent asks. But it is unclear to proponents of the bill just how a health care provider could ascertain that such a request was voluntary and in which circumstances a child would be capable of providing adequate and safe interpreting services.  For more information about AB 292,

go to: AB 292

Health Plan Interpreting Bill Passes Appropriations -- Senator Martha Escutia’s (D – Whittier) SB 853 passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee with an 8 to 4 vote.  The bill would require the Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) to adopt regulations by January 1, 2006 that ensure enrollees in California health plans have access to language assistance and culturally competent health care services.  Senator Escutia’s bill also requires the State Insurance Commissioner to promulgate similar regulations by January 1, 2006, with respect to health insurers that contract with providers for alternative rates of payment to ensure that insureds have the same access to linguistic and cultural services.  For more information about SB 853,

go to: SB 853

CHIA Board/Chapter Chairs to Meet This Weekend:  CHIA staff and leaders will meet this weekend in Sacramento to discuss issues ranging from the Annual Meeting on September 27 to expanded services to CHIA members and chapters.  If you have suggestions or comments you’d like CHIA leaders to include, please give us feedback at triley@amgroup.us.

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CHIA UPDATE - MAY 23, 2003

MINORITY HEALTH ISSUES UPDATES — The California Pan-Ethnic Health Network (CPEHN) is offering a series of presentations around the state in July to discuss current issues in minority health. Topics include State Budget issues, expanded access to care and universal care legislation, and the Ward Connerly Initiative to prohibit collection of race-based data. Dates for the events are July 10 in Fresno, July 11 in San Jose, July 17 in San Diego, and July 18 in Los Angeles.

 Presenters will include: Anthony Wright of Health Access California; Sarah Mercer of the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund and a member of the CHIA Advisory Board; and Martin Martinez of CPEHN, also CHIA Advisory Board member.  For the CPEHN printable flyer (with more information and the registration form),
click here.

NATIONAL RADIO PIECE ON CHILD INTERPRETER BILL — National Public Radio ran a story on May regarding AB 292 (Yee), the Assembly bill to prohibit use of child interpreters except in cases of emergency.  You can listen to the piece on the NPR website:
http://discover.npr.org/features/feature.jhtml?wfId=1262985

INTERPRETER SERVICES BILL SET FOR COMMITTEE VOTE — SB 853 (Escutia), which would require the state to develop regulations requiring health plans and health insurers to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate services, is scheduled to be heard May 29 in the Senate Appropriations Committee.  The bill must clear the Senate fiscal committee before full Senate vote and advancement to the Assembly. Specifically, the bill requires that the Department of Managed Health Care develop standards by January 1, 2006, for the following:

• Individual access to interpretation services and performance requirements for interpretation services.

• Quality and availability of translated materials such as medical information, legal rights, health education, and enrollment information.

            • Assessing cultural competency needs and quality measures.

SB 853 would also require that contracts betweens plans and providers ensure compliance with the standards, and that the DMHC Office of the Patient Advocate add a compliance rating to its annual report card on health plans.  Similar standards would be developed by the Insurance Commissioner relative to health insurers and fee-for-service providers.

Blue Cross and an association of insurers is opposing the bill, arguing that insurers and other stakeholders are working to address the goals of the bill on their own. The insurance association is also arguing that insurers cannot require providers under PPO contracts to offer interpreting services. The California Medical Association has offered amendments to the author to require that providers receive adequate compensation for the interpreting services provided.

Link to: SB 853

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CHIA UPDATE - MAY 9, 2003:

CHIA WELCOMES NEW BOARD MEMBER ­ — CHIA’s Board of Directors this week appointed Dr. Martha Bernadett to the board for a two-year term. Dr. Bernadett is Vice President of Molina Medical Centers for Molina Healthcare of California, a Long Beach-based managed care firm founded by her father that operates health plans in California, Washington, Utah and Michigan. Molina’s 500,000 members primarily receive healthcare services under Medicaid or other government health programs. In her role for the company, Dr. Bernadett has been charged with developing a national strategy for cultural competency and reducing health disparities though development and implementation of special projects. She is the principal investigator on Hablamos Juntos, a program funded through a $1-million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to study and improve access to the healthcare for the Latino population. CHIA looks forward to benefiting from Dr. Bernadett’s research and experience.

CHIA ADVISORY BOARD ASSEMBLED — Key players involved with cultural competency issues in the state’s healthcare system have agreed to serve on CHIA’s Advisory Board. Although the Board will not hold meetings, its individual members will be consulted when CHIA activities involve a member’s area of expertise. CHIA is grateful to the following Advisory Board members who will be offering the organization their insights:

 John Blossom, MD, Program Director of California Area Health Education Center (AHEC) system

Tricia Hunter, American Nurses Association California, nurse, former Assemblymember.

Martin Martinez, California Pan-Ethnic Health Network

Laura Williams, MD, Director of Native American Health Research Initiative at the UC Irvine

Sara Olivia Mercer, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund

Al Hernandez, Associate Director for Hispanic Affairs, California Catholic Conference

Marjorie Swartz, Western Center for Law and Poverty

Hector Flores, MD, Chairman of Family Practice Department, White Memorial Medical Center. past president of the Chicano/Latino Medical Association of California.

 HEALTHCARE INTERPRETING LEGISLATION — AB 292 (Yee), a state bill that would prohibit the use of child interpreters by healthcare providers or facilities that receives state funding, has cleared one legislative committee but awaits further disposition. The bill’s author, a former child psychologist, has pointed to studies that show how the use of untrained interpreters can create inappropriate, traumatic and dangerous situations that result in misdiagnoses, inappropriate drug prescription and use, and potentially life-threatening situations. As amended, AB 292 does allow for use of child interpreters in emergency care situations.

 The main opposition on the bill is the California Medical Association (CMA), which argues that AB 292 will ultimately limit access to care for the very people it is designed to help. Since Medi-Cal does not reimburse for interpreting services, some doctors may be discouraged from seeing Medi-Cal LEP patients if physicians have to pay for the services themselves. CMA has asked for amendments allowing the use of a child as an interpreter if a patient requests it. (Other questions have been raised too, such as whether children can be used if no other interpretation services are available; or in cases where the care required is not complex and non-sensitive; or in cases where the care is palliative or end-of-life, and the patient might benefit psychologically from the presence and help of a young family member).

 Renee Pittin of Assemblymember Yee’s staff says the author is “pretty well satisfied” with the AB 292 as it is. The bill has cleared the Assembly Business and Professions Committee. However, the bill was placed on the Assembly Appropriations “Suspense File,” apparently out of concern by someone at the committee that AB 292 would cost the state significant money, Pittin said. She countered that the state costs “would be negligible.”  The author’s office has until the end of the month to make their case and get the bill extricated from the Suspense File.

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