SAN DIEGO, Aug. 31 (UPI) -- A California group seeking to make English the official language of government operations is suing the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
ProEnglish has filed suit against the agency that runs Medicare, Medicaid, the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other health programs, as well as HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson, challenging a policy that requires translations and interpreters for non-English speaking persons.
Joining ProEnglish as co-plaintiffs are the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons and five physicians.
ProEnglish said the HHS policy, put out in August of 2003, stated that recipients of federal funds, including healthcare providers participating in Medicaid or Medicare, as well as state and local government agencies who fail to provide free translation and interpreters for non-English speaking clients may violate the ban on "national origins" discrimination in Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Law.
ProEnglish is represented by the conservative Pacific Legal Foundation.
