Albany, NY – Assemblywoman Nily Rozic (D-Flushing) with the support of State Senator John Liu (D-Flushing) has introduced critical legislation this session to ensure hospitals across New York provide essential language assistance services to patients with limited English proficiency, as well as those with vision or hearing impairments.

The bill, A387a/S6288, would guarantee that all patients – regardless of language or ability – can fully access healthcare services, including billing, appointment scheduling, and more. If passed, the bill would require hospitals to implement a comprehensive language assistance program, designate a Language Assistance Coordinator, and provide timely interpreter services. Hospitals would also need to offer accessible materials, train staff in culturally competent care, and prominently display signage informing patients about the availability of free language services.

“Every patient deserves to understand and participate in their own healthcare, regardless of the language they speak or any disabilities they may have. This bill is about eliminating barriers and ensuring that all New Yorkers can access the healthcare services they need with the support to communicate effectively. I’m proud to reintroduce this critical legislation in partnership with Senator John Liu,” said Assemblywoman Nily Rozic.

“In hospitals, every second counts, and language barriers should never prevent anyone from getting the urgent care they deserve. This legislation will make sure all of New York’s hospitals provide language assistance to patients, regardless of English proficiency, so that they can communicate clearly with their doctors and make informed decisions about their health without having to worry about critical information getting lost in translation. Thank you to Assembly Member Rozic for working to prioritize this legislation to improve healthcare access for culturally competent care,” said State Senator John Liu.

"Language assistance accessibility is a key to equitable health care,” said Assembly Health Committee Chair Amy Paulin. “Having a comprehensive language assistance program, which includes various methods of providing information to patients and training for staff regarding access to language assistance, is key to ensure that every patient can make informed decisions about their health care. I thank Assemblywoman Rozic and State Senator Liu for sponsoring this bill to support patients with language barriers.”

“All New Yorkers – regardless of the language they speak – deserve to have full access to health care services. More than 1 out of 3 Asian American New Yorkers is currently limited English proficient (LEP), and at CACF we’ve seen firsthand how transformative having access to in-language culturally responsive language assistance coordinators can be for our community,” said Anita Gundanna and Vanessa Leung, Co-Executive Directors of Coalition for Asian American Children & Families. “This legislation would address longstanding language access gaps in New York State by ensuring its hospitals have language access coordinators in place for LEP patients who often struggle to be understood while navigating care. Just as importantly, we commend Assemblywoman Rozic and Senator Liu calling for safeguards to ensure that children under 16 will not be called on to translate for their family members in medical settings outside of clearly defined, emergency situations.”

“Language barriers exacerbate already stark disparities in healthcare and lead to worse health outcomes and compromised patient safety. Ensuring effective and accessible communication will save lives in the AAPI, immigrant, and low-income communities that we serve at the

Chinese-American Planning Council, Inc. We applaud the leadership of Assemblywoman Rozic and Senator Liu as they work to strengthen equitable access to healthcare and to ensure that our community members are treated with compassion and respect starting with language access,” said Wayne Ho, President & CEO of the Chinese-American Planning Council (CPC).

“The de facto reality of growing up in an AAPI immigrant family with limited English proficient parents like my own, is that children starting from grade school were often brought along to translate between their parents and doctors to determine their family's healthcare needs. When your best option to communicate your critical health needs is an untrained child with a grade school level vocabulary and comprehension, it means you don't feel you have any. Not only is this unfair to the patient, it is unfair to the entire family including the child,” said John Park, Executive Director of the MinKwon Center. “New York has long been a beacon of hope for immigrants around the world, and this bill is a major step to ensuring accurate and timely communication so that all New Yorkers are receiving the informed and efficient healthcare we need.”

“Ensuring that patients receive timely medical information and are able to communicate clearly and accurately with hospital personnel can literally mean the difference between life and death,” said Thomas Yu, Executive Director of Asian Americans for Equality (AAFE). “We are grateful to Assemblywoman Rozic and Senator Liu for championing this proposed legislation to provide vital language assistance services across New York state.”

The bill has been reported out of the Assembly Committee on Health and is on track for broader consideration in the Legislature.

Rozic added, “New York is finally taking a decisive step toward ensuring that all residents have access to the healthcare services they need, free from language barriers.”