Seattle has experienced complications in its efforts to act in accordance with the federal Affordable Care Act, which offers new coverage programs. Document translation services have emerged as a necessary tool for health care providers that need to inform the patients of the new laws. Washington is home to residents who speak over 50 different languages. City officials have had to deal with language barriers to convince many people in Seattle to participate in the new health insurance exchange. They have had to translate many documents into multiple languages to make information on these new policies available to Washington residents. Furthermore, medical interpreters’ role has become more significant as they facilitate communication between patients and medical care providers.
U.S. Census indicates that approximately half a million residents in Washington believe that they do not speak English very well. Under the Affordable Care Act Washington’s Health Benefit Exchange is required to establish relationships with local organizations to provide assistance to people who need help applying for insurance. Many groups have relied on document translation services to reach out to immigrants in Washington and inform them of Accordable Care Act’s benefits. They translate their documents and websites into several languages to send their message to Seattle’s non-English speakers. At California Center for Translation & Interpretation we acknowledge that understanding the law is one thing but communicating the changes to non-English speaking immigrants is something else.
That challenge is especially true in states such as California and Washington whose populations are ethnically diverse. Our document translation services as well as medical interpretation services are important tools for city officials and health clinics that seek to increase the participation of non-English speakers in the new health insurance exchange options. Our priority is to help heath service providers better serve the community. We invite you to contact us to learn more about our medical document translation services.
