By Kenny Goldberg
In its first year of operation in 2013, California’s health insurance exchange wasn’t well equipped to help people who speak foreign languages.
But this year, Covered California’s website has information in Spanish, Arabic, and ten other foreign languages.
The exchange also has operators at its call center who speak Chinese or Korean. Covered California’s Dana Howard said help is available in virtually any language.
“So if someone, for instance, needs help in speaking Farsi, if we do not have a service center representative available, we have translation services that we call upon immediately, to be able to help that consumer,” Howard explained.
Consumers who need in-person help in a foreign language can click on the “get help” section on the Covered California website.
Howard said more than half of the state’s 6,000 certified enrollment counselors are bilingual in Spanish.
The deadline to apply for coverage starting next year is December 15.