HMOs Criticized Over Refusal to Give Data

Some of the largest health maintenance organizations in California are drawing fire from minority activists for refusing to give state regulators information about services provided to patients who don't speak English. According to regulators, Blue Shield of California Inc., Cigna Healthcare of California Inc. and Aetna Inc. -- with a total of 3.4 million Golden State members -- declined to voluntarily submit the data to the Office of the Patient Advocate. Western Health Advantage, a smaller Sacramento-based HMO, also declined. The state agency, which serves as an ombudsman for HMO consumers, had requested information on the efforts of HMOs to provide translators and other foreign-language help to their patients as part of its annual HMO Quality of Care Report Card, to be released today. Twenty-four other California HMOs submitted information for the so-called cultural-linguistic rating. The refusal by the three large plans, representing about 13% of California HMO members, "sends the wrong message to the non-English-speaking community," said Patricia Diaz, policy director of the Latino Coalition for a Healthy California in Sacramento. She said one-third of all Californians and half of Los Angeles County residents speak a language other than English at home. [more ]