Bill Text: CA AB505 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Medi-Cal: managed care: language assistance services.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2014-09-29 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 788, Statutes of 2014. [AB505 Detail]
Download: California-2013-AB505-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 505 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 788
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 29, 2014
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 29, 2014
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 4, 2014
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 19, 2014
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 19, 2014
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 19, 2013
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 14, 2013
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 4, 2013
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 17, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Nazarian
FEBRUARY 20, 2013
An act to add Section 14029.91 to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, relating to Medi-Cal.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 505, Nazarian. Medi-Cal: managed care: language assistance
services.
Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is
administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under
which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services.
The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal
Medicaid Program provisions. Under existing law, one of the methods
by which Medi-Cal services are provided is pursuant to contracts with
various types of managed care plans.
This bill would require the department to require all managed care
plans contracting with the department to provide Medi-Cal services,
except as specified, to provide language assistance services, which
includes oral interpretation and translation services, to
limited-English-proficient Medi-Cal beneficiaries, as defined. The
bill would require the department to determine when a
limited-English-proficient population meets the requirement for
translation services, as prescribed.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 14029.91 is added to the Welfare and
Institutions Code, to read:
14029.91. (a) The department shall require all managed care plans
contracting with the department to provide Medi-Cal services to
provide language assistance services to limited-English-proficient
(LEP) Medi-Cal beneficiaries who are mandatorily enrolled in managed
care in the following manner:
(1) Oral interpretation services shall be provided in any language
on a 24-hour basis at key points of contact.
(2) Translation services shall be provided to the language groups
identified by the department.
(b) The department shall determine when an LEP population meets
the requirement for translation services using one of the following
numeric thresholds:
(1) A population group of at least 3,000 or 5 percent of the
beneficiary population, whichever is fewer, mandatory Medi-Cal
beneficiaries, residing in the service area, who indicate their
primary language as other than English.
(2) A population group of mandatory Medi-Cal beneficiaries,
residing in the service area, who indicate their primary language as
other than English, and that meet a concentration standard of 1,000
beneficiaries in a single ZIP Code or 1,500 beneficiaries in two
contiguous ZIP Codes.
(c) The department shall make this determination if any of the
following occurs:
(1) A nonmanaged care county becomes a new managed care county.
(2) A new population group becomes a mandatory Medi-Cal managed
care beneficiary population.
(3) A period of three years has passed since the last
determination.
(d) The department shall instruct managed care plans, by means of
incorporating the requirement into plan contracts, all-plan letters,
or similar instructions, of the language groups that meet the numeric
thresholds.
(e) For purposes of this section, a person is
"limited-English-proficient" if he or she speaks English less than
very well.
(f) This section shall not apply to mental health plans
contracting with the department pursuant to Section 14712.
