Unable to figure out how to obtain a new Medicare drug prescription card, many non- English speakers are going without their medications for days or even weeks until they’re able to find someone to assist them. As the May 15th deadline for choosing a prescription plan gets closer and closer, Il notes, immigrants are panicking.
Communication via mail from Medicare is only in English so some immigrants are faced with a pile of documents from Medicare (and the private plans that contract with it to provide services) that they can’t decipher. For some, notes the author, like Los Angeles’ large Korean population, calls to these organizations are useless as no bi-lingual employees are available to speak with immigrants.
“Complaints about language barriers have arisen across the country,” points our Il. “But the issue is particularly acute in California, where the primary language of one in five residents — and about the same fraction of low-income seniors — is not English,” said Jeanne Finberg, a California-based attorney for the National Senior Citizens Law Center.
"The federal government has really failed this population," Finberg said. "How outrageous is it that so many of the Medicare beneficiaries are unable to understand any part of this program?"
The government, in the meantime, notes that they are trying to establish outreach programs for senior centers frequented by non English-speaking members. In addition, toll-free call lines have been funded by the government and set up by local non-profits. When non English-speaking seniors call Medicare, they can request a translator but the request, unfortunately, must be made in English, Il points out.
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