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STUDY
FINDS DISCRIMINATION AGAINST SPANISH-SPEAKING LATINOS
SEEKING ACCESS TO MEDICAL BENEFITS AT D.C. DEPARTMENT
OF HUMAN SERVICES
80%
of Spanish-Language Testers Faced Major Hurdle at DHS
Washington,
DC – An independent study commissioned by the National
Council of La Raza (NCLR),
the largest national Latino civil rights organization
in the U.S., found that language barriers and related
discriminatory practices at the District of Columbia’s
Department of Human Services (DHS) have drastically
limited access to medical services, such as Medicaid,
for the District’s large Spanish-speaking community.
According to the report, 80% of Spanish-speaking Latinos
who participated in on-site visits and telephone testing
faced at least one serious hurdle in obtaining vital
medical benefits at DHS.
“This
is the first study to compare the treatment of Spanish-speaking
Latinos and English-speaking non-Latinos seeking medical
insurance, and the results are appalling. The enormous
disparity in the medical services and personal treatment
these Spanish-speakers received from the District of
Columbia’s Department of Human Services is unacceptable
and clearly violates federal and city law,” said Janet
Murguia, President and CEO
of NCLR. “People are at their most vulnerable when
seeking medical help for themselves and their children.
They deserve better, as does everyone in our city.
Any time a group of people is shut out of accessing
basic medical care, it becomes a public health crisis
for all of us.”
The
Equal Rights Center (ERC), a nonprofit civil rights
organization that was commissioned by NCLR to conduct
the testing, sent matched pairs of Protected (Latino
Spanish-speaking) and Controlled (non-Latino English-speaking)
testers at the end of 2003 to the DHS centers located
at 508 Kennedy Street N.W. and 645 H Street N.E. The
matched testers also made telephone calls to the appropriate
DHS centers. Both the Protected and Controlled testers
sought information about obtaining medical benefits
for their U.S.-citizen children. The testers rated
their experiences according to five factors, including
whether DHS staff provided services and benefits applications
and responded to requests for supporting documentation
in the appropriate language, and whether DHS staff made
any discouraging comments or asked questions that were
not related to benefits eligibility. Follow-up telephone
tests were conducted at the end of 2004.
“Our
analysis found that the Spanish-speaking Latino testers
faced a 20% to 30% discrimination rate on each factor
evaluated when visiting DHS facilities,” said ERC’s
Executive Director, Bruce E. Kahn. “Some were asked
inappropriate questions that were not relevant to their
requests for benefits. In our follow-up phone calls,
we found that approximately two out of three times a
call was made there was no available Spanish-speaking
DHS representative. Given that people’s health is at
stake, this points to a serious lapse in the provision
of necessary mandatory service.”
“Having
a federal law in place for 40 years should have led
the District to comply with language requirements that
make it possible for Spanish-speaking Latinos to access
DHS medical benefits,” said Dr. Juan Romagoza, Executive
Director of La Clínica del
Pueblo, a nonprofit bilingual, bicultural community
medical clinic in the District. “Having the City Council
pass the Language Access Act a year ago should have
finally addressed the situation. While there have been
some improvements, this testing shows that the problem
is far from resolved. When will the District’s Department
of Human Services take this problem seriously? We are
talking about people’s health and their right to obtain
appropriate medical care as specified by the law.”
As
a result of the study commissioned by NCLR, the Washington
Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs
(WLC) is reaching out to the Latino community in Washington,
DC to further document the extent and consequences of
discriminatory denial of access to government health
benefits. During the next few months, Hispanics in
the District will be urged to contact WLC with accounts
of their own experiences in seeking medical benefits
through the District’s DHS.
“If
Mayor Williams and the City Council do not take action
to correct this serious problem once and for all, we
will be forced to examine all of our legal options under
District and federal law,” said Denise Gilman, Director
of the Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project of WLC.
“We encourage individuals who have experienced this
type of discrimination at DHS to contact the Washington
Lawyers’ Committee. At a minimum, we will look to file
civil rights complaints with the relevant local and
federal government agencies.”
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