The
Law and Health Care Interpreting
Federal
government guidelines state that health care providers who
receive federal money must provide interpreters for patients
who do not speak English. This spells out the intent of Title
VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination
on the basis of race, color or country of national origin.
According to 2000 census estimates, over 17% of the population
speak a language other than English at home, with 39.5% in
California, well over the national average.
It
is critical the growing number of non-English speaking patients
be able to communicate with their health care providers. The
obligations under Title VI extend to hospitals, state Medicaid
agencies, managed care organizations, nursing homes, home
service providers, and social service organizations.
The
Clinton Administration issued Executive Order 13166 in August
2000. It directs all federal agencies to make sure services
are accessible to Limited English Proficient patients. This
means that federal agencies must comply to the same rules
as federal fund recipients. It also designates the Department
of Justice as the agency responsible for providing guidance
to federal agencies.
The
effects of not understanding a language are appalling:
