SB 853: Bridging the Language Gap with our Members
Health Net feels strongly about their responsibility to communicate essential information to their members, clients and business partners in a timely manner. California has one of the fastest growing, most ethnically diverse populations in the country. This message will provide you with details about a law that will help bridge the language and cultural gaps between Health Net and their members.New Law SB 853
State Senate Bill 853, which went into effect January 1, 2009, has been developed to ensure health plans provide language assistance services to their members with limited English proficiency. Health Net has evaluated the requirements of this law and has put new processes into place to ensure they meet the needs of their membership.
SB 853 requires that health plans implement a language assistance program that assesses members' language needs and provides the following services at all applicable points of contact:
- Verbal interpretation assistance
- Written translation of vital documents in threshold languages
- Assistance with the enrollment application process
SB 853 will be enforced through regulations issued by the Department of Managed Health Care and the Department of Insurance and applies to all lines of business, with the exception of Medicare Advantage, Medicare Part D (PDP) and Medi-Cal. Required notices that provide details to members about how they can access the language assistance program services will be included in their materials beginning January 1, 2009.
Marketing Vital Documents
Vital documents have been determined upon evaluation of marketing materials, and therefore will be available in the threshold languages as indicated above. A list of these vital documents is available by clicking on the link below.
Required Notices
Required notices providing details to members about how they can access the language assistance program services will be included in our vital document materials and open enrollment kits beginning January 1, 2009. A grid showing an outline of how these notices will be used and fulfilled, as well as sample PDFs of what each type of notice looks like are available by clicking on the appropriate links below. Regulatory notice fulfillment requirements for vital document materials and open enrollment kits that will come out of our warehouse as of 1/1/09 will be a seamless one for our brokers, and no action is required on your part. These notices will also be made available for viewing/downloading via www.healthnet.com/broker.
Should you have any questions, please contact your B&P representative.
Click on the links below to access the necessary files:
Vital Documents
Notice Grid
PPO Kit Sample
HMO Kit Sample
Vital Document - Application Attachment