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Doctors Rebel Against EO 13166 On May 23, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons filed a petition for rulemaking with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The petition asks HHS to revoke its new rules requiring all doctors to provide translators upon demand. The new HHS rules come from Executive Order 13166, issued last year, which requires all government contractors and grantees to provide services and benefits in languages other than English. (See related stories, this issue, on the Supreme Court striking down the lawsuit on which these rules are based and the Bush Administration's refusal to rescind the rules.) Since doctors receive Medicare and Medicaid payments, they are considered government grantees under EO 13166. So HHS issued extensive rules requiring doctors to provide translators. AAPS asked HHS to rescind the rules because the Supreme Court struck down the legal rationale for the rule (see related story, this issue), and because the rule is expensive and burdensome. In an interview, for example, AAPS lawyers noted that the rule requires a translator, which costs $270, for a medical exam for which Medicare pays only $47. AAPS also noted that HHS, like all government agencies which crafted rules under EO 13166, failed to consult with doctors and others who will have to comply with the rules. HHS, like the other federal agencies, only talked to special interest and advocacy groups for language minority persons |
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