LEGAL PROTECTIONS TO ENSURE LINGUISTICALLY APPROPRIATE HEALTH-CARE

Nearly 32 million people in the United States, 13.8 percent of the pop ulation, speak a language other than English at home, and our health c ave delivery system is hard-pressed to handle this diversity. Most pre ssing is the need for adequate translation services. Many U.S. hospita ls rely on untrained employees or advise patients to bring friends or family members with them to translate. Thus, interpreter and translati on needs often go unmet or are handled inappropriately. A number of fe deral and state laws impose legal obligations on health care providers to offer at least minimally adequate translation services for limited English-proficient patients. This article outlines the scope of these legal requirements and discusses the need to ensure linguistically ap propriate care in the emerging managed care delivery system.