Interpretation services would cost Connecticut Medicaid $4.7 million annually

Reimbursing providers through the Connecticut Medicaid program for interpreting services for patients would cost about $4.7 million annually, half of which could be paid by the state and half of which could be financed through federal matching funds, according to a report released on Wednesday by the Connecticut Health Foundation, the Hartford Courant reports.

According to the report, which was complied by Mathematica Policy Research, providers should be allowed to bill Medicaid directly for interpretation services instead of hiring staff interpreters at hospitals because health care is delivered in many different settings.

Many hospitals use part-time interpreters or telephone language lines to help non-English-speaking patients communicate with physicians and some allow patients' family members or hospital employees to interpret.

However, advocates say such arrangements can result in inaccurate or incomplete interpretations or lead patients to withhold information because they do not want to discuss sensitive subjects with the interpreter.

State Sen. Toni Harp (D), chair of the state Legislature's appropriations committee, designated money in the current budget for the state Department of Public Health to develop licensing standards for medical interpreters.

Once those standards are established, lawmakers can consider whether to include interpretation on the list of services covered by Medicaid.

According to the Courant, many advocates and lawmakers support increasing interpreting services for patients, but it has been difficult to move forward with the issue "without a firm price tag" for providing interpreters (Waldman, Hartford Courant, 10/25).

The report is available online. Note: You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the report.