BILL REQ. #:  S-4795.1 

READ FIRST TIME 02/09/10.   

     AN ACT Relating to language access providers; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   (1) No later than thirty days after the effective date of this section, the office of financial management shall establish a working group on language access services.
     (2) The working group shall include members that have experience and knowledge of language access services in Washington state, including representatives of a statewide association representing hospitals, community health centers and providers for underserved and immigrant populations, statewide associations representing physicians, other health care providers who serve medicaid patients, a statewide labor union currently working with language access providers, statewide professional interpreter associations, community-based organizations that advocate for persons with limited English proficiency, language access providers, brokers, and representatives of the department of social and health services.
     (3) A representative of the office of financial management shall chair the working group, and the department shall provide staff to support the working group's activities.
     (4) The working group shall develop a plan to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of language access services. The plan shall describe the best possible means by which the following criteria are achieved: Administrative and overhead costs, including brokers and language access agencies, are reduced; timeliness and flexibility for medical providers is improved; the pool of qualified interpreters is stabilized; and fraud and abuse are prevented.
     (5) The office of financial management shall report the findings of the working group to the legislature and the governor no later than September 30, 2010.