President Obama’s health care reform plan has brought with it much controversy. Despite significant efforts, ensuring that the linguistically diverse populations residing in many states have been informed about changes which affect them has turned out to be quite a daunting task. Comprehending the reforms is challenging even for native English speakers. Relaying the information to individuals with Limited English Proficiency (LEP) is especially difficult. As a result, one of the biggest hurdles in implementing the President’s Affordable Care Act is overcoming language barriers.
President Obama’s Health Care Reform
The U.S. Census estimates that more than 55 million people speak a language other than English at home. Spanish and Chinese are the two most commonly spoken languages after English.Tagalog, French, Vietnamese, German and Korean each have at least one million native speakers. In states like California – where the largest immigrant population resides – followed by Texas, New York, Florida and Illinois, the vast number of non-native English speakers has made the issue of overcoming language barriers especially challenging. To further complicate the issue, there are numerous native languages spoken by several dominant ethnic minorities in these states.
A look at a cross section of the patient population in health care centers in major urban centers in California provides insight into the extent of this challenge. For example, in one nonprofit clinic in Oakland, CA health care providers must treat patients who speak 22 languages other than English. Although many immigrant populations are eligible for health insurance under the new reforms, too often they are not adequately fluent in English or are unaware that they are entitled to health care benefits under the new reform plan.
In order to reach these individuals, it is essential that this information be provided to them in their native language(s). In some states, such as Illinois, where there are nearly 1.2 million residents with LEP, nonprofit groups and community organizations have been given the task of providing translation services for the information into the required languages. The success of the President’s reforms will ultimately depend in part on how these issues are addressed. Translation is one critical aspect, but community outreach will also be an important factor in crossing not only the linguistic, but also the cultural and education barriers.
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