Last month, CMS announced a first-ever plan to address health equity in Medicare. One of the major priorities is to improve communication and language access for individuals with Limited English Proficiency (LEP). This is important because of the sheer numbers of people it affects and because language barriers are a major cause of low-income older adults being unable to access the health care they need. Here are ten things you should know about language access advocacy for older adults.
For the first time, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has published a plan to address health equity in Medicare. The plan, developed by the Office of Minority Health, will focus on populations that experience barriers to accessing care and lower quality of care. These include rural residents, Limited English Proficiency (LEP) individuals, racial and ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, and LGBT individuals. The plan aims to reduce health disparities in four years, and focuses on six priorities.
Ohio’s Medicaid program covered only a portion of the program’s assisted living bills, leaving frail seniors Betty Hilleger and Geraldine Saunders with unexpected sky-high expenses. And they were not alone. Thousands of Ohio’s seniors faced the same coverage gap. They applied for coverage, but faced delays and unreasonable bills even after they were supposed to be covered. Justice in Aging joined with the Cincinnati firm Beckman Weil Shepardson to represent Hilleger and Saunders in a class action suit against the state to eliminate this coverage gap.
