Sponsors (18)
The bill improves telehealth access and safety for non‑English speakers through standardized interpreter and multilingual requirements, but requires investments and raises privacy risks that may burden smaller providers and increase costs.
Non‑English‑speaking patients (including immigrants and people with chronic conditions) will gain better access to telehealth and safer care through integrated interpreter services, multilingual appointment reminders, and translated prescription/visit information, reducing missed appointments and medication errors.
Hospitals, clinics, and other providers will get clear federal guidance to make patient portals and telecommunications systems accessible and to integrate interpreters into virtual care workflows, reducing friction for non‑English speakers and clarifying compliance expectations for health systems.
Telehealth and health IT vendors will receive standardized guidance on multi‑party video features and multilingual support that can spur more interoperable product development and clearer technical expectations for industry.
Hospitals, clinics, and vendors will face upfront costs to implement multilingual features, interpreter integration, and translation services, costs that could be passed on to patients, insurers, or taxpayers.
Smaller and rural providers may lack the funding or technical capacity to meet the guidance, risking widened access disparities if requirements outpace available support.
Expanded use of telehealth platforms and increased multilingual data exchange raises patient data and privacy risks if vendors or providers do not adopt strong security and privacy practices.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires HHS to issue guidance, within one year, on best practices for providing telehealth to people with limited English proficiency, including interpreter use and multilingual communications.
Introduced March 14, 2025 by Monica De La Cruz · Last progress March 14, 2025
Requires the Department of Health and Human Services to issue or update and share guidance within one year on how to provide telehealth services to people with limited English proficiency. The guidance must be developed with input from seven types of stakeholders and cover interpreter integration, easy-to-follow access instructions, better patient portal access, multi-person video platforms for interpretation, and multilingual patient communications.