Health plans in the Golden State are busy working toward compliance with Senate Bill 853 in the ramp-up toward 1 January 2009. On that date, licensed health insurance plans in California will be required to set up systems to make sure that services, information, and materials are offered to limited English proficient (LEP) members in a language they can understand.

The new requirements will definitely generate a greater demand for translation and interpreting services. The question on the minds of players in the market is, “How much?” One report estimates that the outlay of funds associated with compliance will range from US$12 million to US$25 million. Hoping to get a piece of this pie, some language service providers (LSPs), such as Dr. Tango and Language Line Services, issued white papers early on in the process to help health plans gain an in-depth understanding of the requirements under the law.

Many newly-required categories of translation projects are mentioned in the legislation. All “vital documents” must be translated, including:

• Applications, consent forms, eligibility notices, and other letters related to plan participation
• Denial letters, notices regarding modifications, reductions, and terminations of services and benefits
• Notices of rights to file grievances and appeals
• Communications to make LEP individuals aware that they have the right to access free language assistance as well as other outreach materials distributed to enrollees

LSPs are likely to wonder what this amounts to for a typical translation project. We took a look at Aetna’s online grievance form, which has just a little over 1,000 words. A CIGNA complaint form has about 500 words. These are not exactly gigantic projects by most translation agency standards.

However, giving individuals the ability to file a grievance in their native tongues opens the door for many small projects to translate supporting documentation submitted in other languages back into English. And, since people are likely to place phone calls to their health plans to follow up on the status of claims, complaints, and grievances, the increased facility for LEP members to interact with their health plans is bound to produce increases in call volumes to telephone interpreting providers.

But not everyone has dollar signs in their eyes. California State Senator Sheila Kuehl from Senate District 23 declared, “We don’t care what it costs everybody. Cost is important…but that’s not the top consideration.” What is the most important consideration then? According to Kuehl, “…providing real access to language minorities.”