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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Alexandra Stewart, JD, Marisa Cox, MA, and Sara Rosenbaum, JD. Department of Health Policy, George Washington University, 2021 K Street, NW, Suite 800, Washington, DC, DC 20006, 202.530.2331, stewarta@gwu.edu

This study is a descriptive, examination of 10 state Medicaid/SCHIP programs that provide language access services. The project addresses options for financing language access services for Medicaid/SCHIP beneficiaries. Some of these options involve modifications to these programs, or other public health, educational, and social service systems affecting health care.

Twenty-one million individuals, approximately 8% of the U.S. population, experience Limited English Proficiency (LEP). This population reports that English is not their native language and that they have limited ability to read, speak, or understand English. Considerable evidence suggests that LEP creates barriers to health care access, including use of a range of health services and access to health insurance coverage. LEP can also adversely affect an individual's ability to contribute to and comprehend conversation and affects the patient-physician relationship, thus directly compromising the quality of health care. LEP persons are more likely to report drug complications, lower medication compliance, and more hospitalizations than those with English fluency.

LEP raises issues beyond its social impact. Several distinct bodies of law come into play in discussing LEP in a health care context: civil rights law, laws applicable to the administration of public insurance; and the law of health care quality.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant will be able to:

1. Recognize the social, clinical, and legal dimensions of LEP

2. Understand how ten states provide LEP services under Medicaid/SCHIP

3. Identify the implications for state public health insurance programs

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) will be able to

• Recognize the social, clinical, and legal dimensions of LEP
• Describe how ten states provide LEP services under Medicaid/SCHIP
• Identify the implications for state public health insurance programs

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered