AB 635: Medical interpretation 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. Existing federal law provides for increased administrative funding for translation and interpretation services provided in connection with the enrollment, retention, and use of services under the Medicaid program.

This bill would require the department to work with stakeholders to conduct a study to identify current requirements for medical interpretation services as well as education, training, and licensure requirements, analyze other state Medicaid programs, make recommendations on strategies that may be employed regarding the provision of medical interpretation services for Medi-Cal beneficiaries who are limited English proficient, and establish a pilot project in up to 4 separate sites to evaluate a mechanism to provide and improve medical interpretation services for those individuals. The bill would authorize the department to expend specified funds for the support of activities relating to medical interpreters for a pilot project, study, or both. The bill also would require the department to seek any available federal funding for the purposes of the bill and would make expenditure of all of the described funds contingent on approval by the Department of Finance, as specified. The bill would require the department, commencing in 2017, to provide an annual update to the budget committees of the Legislature on the implementation of the bill, as specified. The provisions of the bill would become inoperative on July 1, 2020.