1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to human services; requiring the commissioner 
  1.3             of human services to provide information on the 
  1.4             medical assistance and the MinnesotaCare programs in 
  1.5             several different languages; amending Minnesota 
  1.6             Statutes 1996, section 256B.04, by adding a 
  1.7             subdivision; Minnesota Statutes 1997 Supplement, 
  1.8             section 256L.02, subdivision 2. 
  1.9   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.10     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 256B.04, is 
  1.11  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  1.12     Subd. 19.  [INFORMATION PROVIDED IN SEVERAL 
  1.13  LANGUAGES.] Upon request, the commissioner shall provide 
  1.14  applications and other information regarding the medical 
  1.15  assistance program, including all notices and disclosures 
  1.16  provided to recipients, in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, and 
  1.17  Hmong.  Reasonable effort must be made to provide this 
  1.18  information to other non-English-speaking recipients. 
  1.19     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1997 Supplement, section 
  1.20  256L.02, subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  1.21     Subd. 2.  [COMMISSIONER'S DUTIES.] The commissioner shall 
  1.22  establish an office for the state administration of this plan.  
  1.23  The plan shall be used to provide covered health services for 
  1.24  eligible persons.  Payment for these services shall be made to 
  1.25  all eligible providers.  The commissioner shall adopt rules to 
  1.26  administer the MinnesotaCare program.  The commissioner shall 
  1.27  establish marketing efforts to encourage potentially eligible 
  2.1   persons to receive information about the program and about other 
  2.2   medical care programs administered or supervised by the 
  2.3   department of human services.  A toll-free telephone number must 
  2.4   be used to provide information about medical programs and to 
  2.5   promote access to the covered services.  
  2.6      Upon request, the commissioner shall provide applications 
  2.7   and other information regarding the MinnesotaCare program, 
  2.8   including all notices and disclosures provided to enrollees, in 
  2.9   English, Spanish, Vietnamese, and Hmong.  Reasonable efforts 
  2.10  must be made to provide this information to other 
  2.11  non-English-speaking applicants and enrollees. 
  2.12     Sec. 3.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  2.13     Sections 1 and 2 are effective January 1, 1999.