California Language Assistance Law

California law requires health plans to provide Language Assistance Program (LAP) services to California residents with limited English proficiency (LEP). To support this requirement, Cigna Behavioral Health provides language assistance services for eligible Cigna Behavioral Health participants.

Under the Language Assistance Program, those eligible are entitled to the following free services:

• Spanish or Traditional Chinese translation of documents considered "vital" according to CA law;
• Interpreter services at each point of contact, such as at a doctor's office or when calling customer service; and
• Notification of rights to Language Assistance Program services.

Practitioners are responsible for offering Cigna Behavioral Health, Inc.'s free telephone interpreter vendor services (1-800-806-2059) to LEP patients. Even if a practitioner or office staff member speaks in the Cigna customer's language, a phone interpreter must always be offered. If the Cigna customer refuses to use a trained interpreter, this must be documented in the patient's medical record. Information on the California Language Assistance Program, including ethnic diversity demographics, is now available on the health care professional website at California Language Assistance Program

Racial and Linguistic Diversity at a Glance:

Cigna collects language preference, race and ethnicity data for California customers.

Language:
Cigna uses California demographic data as a proxy for our customer base until we have a statistically valid number of enrollee language preference records. The following is an overview of that data:

• 44% of the California population (over 5 years old) speak a language other than English
• Spanish (29%) and Cantonese/Mandarin (3%) are the top languages spoken in California

Cigna racial/ethnic composition:
The following data is an indirect estimation (derived from a methodology using a combination of Census geocoding and surname recognition):

• 51 % Caucasian
• 23 % Hispanic
• 19 % Asian
• 3% African American
• 3% Other

For more information about the Language Assistance Program, contact your Provider Relations Manager.