Language access services

(a) Essential benefits Section 1302(b)(1) of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (42 U.S.C. 18022(b)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the following: (K) Language access services, including oral interpretation and written translations.. (b) Employer-Sponsored minimum essential coverage (1) In general Section 36B(c)(2)(C) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by redesignating clauses (iii) and (iv) as clauses (iv) and (v), respectively, and by inserting after clause (ii) the following new clause: (iii) Coverage must include language access and services Except as provided in clause (iv), an employee shall not be treated as eligible for minimum essential coverage if such coverage consists of an eligible employer-sponsored plan (as defined in section 5000A(f)(2)) and the plan does not provide coverage for language access services, including oral interpretation and written translations.. (2) Conforming amendments (A) Section 36B(c)(2)(C) of such Code is amended by striking clause (iii) each place it appears in clauses (i) and (ii) and inserting clause (iv). (B) Section 36B(c)(2)(C)(iv) of such Code, as redesignated by this subsection, is amended by striking (i) and (ii) and inserting (i), (ii), and (iii). (c) Quality reporting Section 2717(a)(1) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300gg–17(a)(1)) is amended— (1) by striking and at the end of subparagraph (C); (2) by striking the period at the end of subparagraph (D) and inserting; and; and (3) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph: (E) reduce health disparities through the provision of language access services, including oral interpretation and written translations.. (d) Regulations regarding internal claims and appeals and external review processes for health plans and health insurance issuers The Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Labor, and the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall amend the regulations in section 54.9815–2719(e) of title 26, Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regulations), section 2590.715–2719(e) of title 29, Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regulations), and section 147.136(e) of title 45, Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regulations), respectively, to require group health plans and health insurance issuers offering group or individual health insurance coverage to which such sections apply— (1) to provide oral interpretation services without any threshold requirements; (2) to provide in the English versions of all notices a statement prominently displayed in not less than 15 non-English languages clearly indicating how to access the language services provided by the plan or issuer; and (3) with respect to the requirements for providing relevant notices in a culturally and linguistically appropriate manner in the applicable non-English languages, to apply a threshold that 5 percent of the population, or not less than 500 individuals, in the county is literate only in the same non-English language in order for the language to be considered an applicable non-English language. (e) Data collection and reporting The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall— (1) amend the single streamlined application form developed pursuant to section 1413 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (42 U.S.C. 18083) to collect the preferred spoken and written language for each household member applying for coverage under a qualified health plan through an Exchange under title I of such Act (42 U.S.C. 18001 et seq.); (2) require navigators, certified application counselors, and other individuals assisting with enrollment to collect and report requests for language assistance; and (3) require the toll-free telephone hotlines established pursuant to section 1311(d)(4)(B) of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (42 U.S.C. 18031(d)(4)(B)) to submit an annual report documenting the number of language assistance requests, the types of languages requested, the range and average wait time for a consumer to speak with an interpreter, the number of complaints and any steps the hotline, and any entity contracting with the Secretary to provide language services, have taken to actively address some of the consumer complaints. (f) Effective date The amendments made by this section shall not apply to plans beginning prior to the date of the enactment of this Act.