Chan's Cultural and Linguistic Competency Reporting Legislation Passes Assembly Committee
On March 18, 2003, Wilma Chan's (D - Oakland) Assembly Bill
154, which would require the health plans participating in Medi-Cal
and the Healthy Families Program to report on their compliance
with existing language assistance and cultural competency requirements,
passed the Assembly Committee on Health 13-9 along party lines.
Republican Committee members Bates, Haynes, Maze and Nakanishi
spoke against the bill. On the other hand, Democratic Committee
members Cohn, Frommer, Goldberg, Negrete McLeod and Ridley-Thomas
asked and were added as co-authors of A.B. 154, joining Assemblymembers
Diaz, Dymally, Firebaugh, Levine and Longville. On April 2, 2003,
the Assembly Committee on Appropriations heard A.B. 154, where
it was sent to the Suspense File to await a later hearing, which
will most likely take place in late May. A.B. 154, analyses and
its status can be viewed at http://www.leginfo.ca.gov.
For more information, contact the APIAHF Policy Division staff:
Gem Daus, Legislative and Government Affairs Coordinator, GDaus@apiahf.org
