The Sacramento Bee: Many Enrolled in California Healthcare Plan Lack Interpretation Services, Surveys Show (November 6, 2019)

Half of the non-English speaking people enrolled in Cal MediConnect reported they could never get a medical interpreter when they needed one, according to a survey conducted by San Francisco State University. Currently, Cal MediConnect is a pilot program that coordinates care for dual eligibles in seven California counties. However, a similar program will be rolled out that requires all of California’s dual eligibles to receive care through managed care plans. This new program is called CalAim. “Our experience in Cal MediConnect can be used to predict where potential language access barriers might be in this new model ‘CalAim’,” said Denny Chan, senior staff attorney at Justice in Aging. “Sooner or later, this will affect all duals across California. The agencies want to move people to managed care plans across the state, so it is important for us to make sure these problems don’t continue.”