Required Oral Interpretation and Written Translation Services

(1) Each carrier shall provide to the insured or the insured's authorized representative, upon request, oral interpretation and written translation services related to all procedures under 958 CMR 3.000, as required by M.G.L. 176O, § 15(k), including, but not limited to, notices of adverse determinations and final adverse determinations. Oral interpretation services shall include, but not be limited to, oral interpretations of documents, answering questions and providing information and assistance with filing grievances or external review requests. (2) A carrier must include in the English version of all notices required by 958 CMR 3.000 and provided to the insured or the insured's authorized representative, a statement describing how the insured or the insured's authorized representative can request oral interpretation and written translation services from the carrier. At a minimum the statement must be prominently displayed within the notice in English, Arabic, Khmer (Cambodian), Chinese, French, Greek, Haitian-Creole, Italian, Lao, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish, and in any non-English language in which 10% or more of the population residing in any Massachusetts county served by the carrier is only literate in the same non-English language, as determined by the Office of Patient Protection, or as otherwise specified by the Office of Patient Protection in consultation with the Division of Insurance. (3) Effective July 1, 2014, once an insured or insured's authorized representative has requested written translation of documents into Spanish, the carrier must provide all subsequent written notices required by 958 CMR 3.000 to the insured or the insured's authorized representative in Spanish along with the English version. NON-TEXT PAGE