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Access 2 Interpreters, LLC is a Translation Services Company offering document translation, transcription, and voiceover translation services. We are constantly looking for compelling news from the translation industry to share on our website.

A hot topic in the United States has been the new healthcare reform law. Initially, the website had many issues after launch. However, not many people were discussing the rollout of this website in other languages.

Cuidadodesalud.gov, which went live in early December, is the Spanish equivalent of Healthcare.gov. Andres Rodriguez of SHFWire.com wrote a great piece, on this subject matter, which we’ve highlighted below.

Heathcare.gov Isn’t Touting ‘Se Habla Español’ Just Yet

After several delays, Cuidadodesalud.gov—the Spanish equivalent of Healthcare.gov—went live in early December. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) called the rollout “a soft launch” that will allow the site’s developers to collect feedback from users about their navigational experience. A CMS spokesperson said, “This will feed into our real-time work to help our efforts to continue to improve the system.”

The agency began advertising on the website in January. According to CMS, 3.8 million out of the 10.2 million uninsured Latinos use Spanish as their main language. Following the rollout of federal program earlier in October, healthcare providers reported an increase in Spanish-speakers looking for assistance in enrolling in the insurance exchanges. “It’s getting better as the exchanges get better, but it’s pretty intense in that we have patients and visitors at all levels of sophistication in being able to navigate a system like this,” says Alicia Wilson, executive director of La Clínica del Pueblo in Washington, DC.

La Clínica received $300,000 to train nine people to assist patients in navigating the exchange in Spanish. Wilson says the enrollment process can take multiple visits of several hours each. Some people, Wilson explains, need help creating email accounts or using a computer before they can even attempt to sign up. Those who seek help at La Clínica tend to be more comfortable with face-to-face interactions, so she does not foresee a decrease in those seeking help once Cuidadodesalud.gov is fully functional. “This is an unbelievable complex law with an unbelievably complex set of requirements and concept,” Wilson says.

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