21-689m Help Meet Members' Language Needs with New Requirements
Date: 09/30/21
This information applies to Physicians, Participating Physician Groups (PPGs), Hospitals, and Ancillary providers.
For Medi-Cal, this information applies to Kern, Los Angeles, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, and Tulare counties.
The Language Assistance Program (LAP) makes it easy for you to follow language service requirements
Health Net’s LAP supports members who have limited English proficiency (LEP), have hearing impairment or have low vision. Our LAP requires contracted providers to adhere to the requirements outlined in this update.
Updated threshold language information
Refer to the list below for updated threshold language requirements that are effective October 7, 2021, per the Department of Health Care Services All Plan Letter (APL) 21-004 and Dental APL 21-001.
- Medi-Cal, Sacramento County:
- Added Farsi.
- Threshold languages are: Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, Hmong, Russian, Spanish and Vietnamese.
- Medi-Cal, San Diego County:
- Added Chinese and Farsi.
- Threshold languages are: Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, Spanish, Tagalog and Vietnamese.
- Cal MediConnect, San Diego County:
- Added Chinese and Farsi.
- Threshold languages are: Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, Spanish, Tagalog and Vietnamese.
For additional information on threshold languages for respective lines of business and counties, refer to the following provider updates, Meet Members’ Language Needs with the Language Assistance Program, distributed on July 22, 2021: 21-498 (commercial); 21-499 (Medicare Advantage); 21-500 (Health Net Cal MediConnect Plan [Medicare-Medicaid Plan]); 21-501 (Medi-Cal); and 21-504 (for hospitals only; commercial and Medi-Cal).
Participating physician groups have access to members’ preferred spoken and written languages through the Health Net Eligibility Report. To access this report, log in to the provider portal and search under Provider Reports > Available Reports > Capitation. Individual and ancillary providers can get members’ language preferences by contacting the Health Net Provider Services Center.
Provider groups delegated for case management or utilization management may send any member information that needs translation to the member’s threshold language or alternate formats to Health Net Provider Services. We cannot accept scanned or faxed documents.
Please follow these directions for materials sent for translation or an alternate format:
- Send the material in a Word or unlocked PDF format. Documents must be sent at 8th grade reading level or below for commercial and Medicare, and at 6th grade reading level or below for Medi-Cal and Cal MediConnect.
- Send the member’s name, member identification number, address and the document requested.
Translation of non-discrimination notices
APL 21-004 requires the non-discrimination notice (NDN) sent with every communication to the member be provided in the member’s preferred threshold language. For example, if the member’s preferred threshold language is Spanish, both the communication and the NDN must be in Spanish. Translated NDNs are available in each county’s threshold languages.
Get member consent for video interpretation for members with commercial plans or Medi-Cal
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Executive Order N-43-20 advised that providers did not need to obtain verbal/written consent prior to the delivery of health care via telehealth. However, an additional executive order suspended waiving consent. Effective September 30, 2021, you must once again obtain verbal/written consent for telehealth.
When conducting video remote interpretation, you must document member consent in the member record notes. To meet the requirement, the HMO, POS, HSP, PPO, EPO (commercial) or Medi-Cal member’s request for a video interpreter can serve as their permission to provide video interpretation.
Learn more about members’ demographics
The chart below shows our membership demographics by gender. We are providing this as part of plan requirements through the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) Multicultural Healthcare Distinction accreditation program.
| Membership by gender | Membership with limited English proficiency by gender | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Line of business | Female | Male | Female | Male |
Commercial | 51.31% | 48.69% | 53.36% | 46.64% |
Medicare | 57.10% | 42.90% | 55.24% | 44.76% |
Medi-Cal | 53.06% | 46.94% | 54.72% | 45.28% |
Cal MediConnect | 57.17% | 42.83% | 60.27% | 39.73% |