6 steps to strengthen language access for annual enrollment
In every annual enrollment period, health plans need to meet compliance standards, tight deadlines, and budgetary requirements, all at the same time. Over the past few years, evolving regulatory expectations—including ongoing updates to Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act and CMS provisions in the Medicare Advantage and Part D final rules—have reshaped language access standards in healthcare.
For health plans, these regulatory shifts carry tangible operational expectations: mandatory distribution of Notices of Availability in top state languages, stricter standards for digital document accessibility (Section 508), and required alternate formats like large print and braille for members with limited English proficiency or disabilities. Together, these changes mean health plans must deliver an exceptional, inclusive member experience or risk falling out of compliance. Providing comprehensive language services and culturally relevant communications is key to engaging diverse members during this crucial enrollment period.
Staying ahead of the curve
As your plan prepares for a successful Annual Enrollment Period this year, it’s essential to stay ahead of the curve by optimizing your language services to meet the growing demands of an increasingly diverse member population across the United States.
The following six tactics will help you optimize your language access services for increased enrollment, better retention, and improved member engagement across multilingual audiences.
1. Evaluate and improve the current experience.
To know where you need to expand language services or adapt communication, look closely at the current experience and compare it against member needs and preferences. Identifying gaps or missed opportunities throughout that experience helps you build an efficient, effective plan that improves outcomes rather than guessing at what members need. A language access acceleration roadmap can help guide that assessment and turn what you find into concrete next steps.
2. Accelerate timelines while mitigating risks.
Meeting regulatory compliance and tight deadlines at the same time requires a workflow built for the unique challenges of standardized documents like Evidence of Coverage (EOC) and Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) materials. Combining advanced automation with expert human quality review reduces manual effort and cost while improving accuracy, so you can meet deadlines with confidence instead of scrambling at the end.
Sending draft documents for translation as soon as they’re ready, rather than waiting for final CMS approval, is one of the most effective ways to protect your timeline. CMS review can take weeks, but that doesn’t mean translation has to wait. As long as later changes stay minor, a good language partner can update the translated versions quickly once final approval comes through, instead of restarting the process from scratch.
3. Build accessibility, alternate formats, and Section 508 compliance into your process early.
Addressing these requirements from the start, rather than retrofitting them later, ensures all communications are fully accessible and makes your overall process more efficient. Early planning lets you streamline your workflow with your language services and accessibility providers, reduce the risk of costly rework, and meet compliance standards from day one instead of catching problems after materials have already gone out.
4. Capitalize on your language assets.
Maximizing efficiency isn’t just about having glossaries, style guides, and Translation Memory (TM) on file; it’s about actively using them to their full potential. Partnering with a language services provider that continuously evaluates, monitors, and fine-tunes your language assets keeps your language investments working as hard as possible. Over time, that ongoing attention compounds into faster turnaround times, real cost savings, and more consistency across every document you produce.
5. Plan for increased call volume this year.
Language access isn’t only about printed documents. Last-minute changes to what members pay for coverage tend to drive a spike in call volume once enrollment opens. Now is the time to audit your over-the-phone interpreting solution to confirm it can scale up and back down as demand shifts throughout the enrollment period.
6. Retain LEP members by closing the loop after enrollment.
Getting enrollment materials right is only half the job. Following up with limited English proficiency members after they enroll, in their preferred language and format, helps confirm they understood their choice and reduces the confusion that often drives early disenrollment. A member who feels informed at every step is far more likely to stay with your plan long term.
Frequently asked questions
- Do these requirements apply to every health plan? Most qualified health plans, exchanges, and Medicare Advantage organizations are covered, though the specific requirements vary depending on which programs and funding sources apply to your organization.
- How early should we start preparing? As early as possible. Sending drafts for translation before final CMS approval, auditing your interpretation capacity, and building accessibility into your workflow from the outset all depend on lead time you can’t recover once enrollment opens.
How Propio can support you
Our healthcare team works with you every step of the way to plan for enrollment and compliance success. By collaborating early, we’ll determine how to best manage document versioning, meet accessibility requirements, make full use of your translation assets, scale interpretation capacity, and more.
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