TY - JOUR
T1 - Pay now or pay later
T2 - Providing interpreter services in health care
AU - Ku, Leighton
AU - Flores, Glenn
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2008 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2005/3
Y1 - 2005/3
N2 - Research amply documents that language barriers impede access to health care, compromise quality of care, and increase the risk of adverse health outcomes among patients with limited English proficiency. Federal civil rights policy obligates health care providers to supply language services, but wide gaps persist because insurers typically do not pay for interpreters, among other reasons. Health care financing policies should reinforce existing medical research and legal policies: Payers, including Medicaid, Medicare, and private insurers, should develop mechanisms to pay for interpretation services for patients who speak limited English.
AB - Research amply documents that language barriers impede access to health care, compromise quality of care, and increase the risk of adverse health outcomes among patients with limited English proficiency. Federal civil rights policy obligates health care providers to supply language services, but wide gaps persist because insurers typically do not pay for interpreters, among other reasons. Health care financing policies should reinforce existing medical research and legal policies: Payers, including Medicaid, Medicare, and private insurers, should develop mechanisms to pay for interpretation services for patients who speak limited English.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=17244366339&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=17244366339&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1377/hlthaff.24.2.435
DO - 10.1377/hlthaff.24.2.435
M3 - Review article
C2 - 15757928
AN - SCOPUS:17244366339
SN - 0278-2715
VL - 24
SP - 435
EP - 444
JO - Health Affairs
JF - Health Affairs
IS - 2
ER -