Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a bulletin entitled, “Ensuring the Rights of Persons with Limited English Proficiency in Health Care During COVID-19.” 

The bulletin reminds health care entities that Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act require entities to provide meaningful access to LEP individuals, a requirement that is not waived during the pandemic. This may include written translations of documents as well as oral language assistance from a qualified interpreter, either in-person or using remote technology.

The bulletin further encourages other ways providers can provide meaningful access to LEP individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic, such as disseminating information about the virus in non-English languages prevalent in the community and in multiple forms of media; designating a person during every work shift to be responsible for ensuring and coordinating the delivery of language access services for patients; and creating and disseminating widely to staff an updated list of in-person and remote translation and interpreter services, and of bilingual staff who are qualified to respond to the needs of LEP individuals. 

The bulletin follows a March OCR bulletin reminding health care entities to not deny medical care on the basis of disabilities or age. The previous bulletin briefly addressed providing meaningful access to LEP individuals, and May’s bulletin provides even more guidance on how providers can continue to meet the needs of LEP communities.

Both bulletins reiterate the importance of filing a complaint with OCR if a health care entity has violated an individual’s civil rights. Advocates interested in filing an OCR complaint can contact Justice in Aging for technical assistance.

On a related matter, Justice in Aging, with the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum and other national partners, sent a letter on May 29 to Congressional leaders urging robust oversight over agencies to ensure they are taking the required actions to provide equal access to people with language and communication assistance needs.