BIP Winter 2024

Professional Development

Benefits need bilingual access Non-native English speakers need more support for benefits education, mental health services and more.

Spanish-language mental health services for the Latino community. The panelists agreed that the healthcare community’s challenge with serving Latinos starts with benefits education. Accessible benefits education Avila, who attends many open enrollment presentations, says a translator isn’t a catch-all solution. The Spanish-speaking portion of the audience still “gets a glazed look” when the speaker is talking too fast and the translator can’t keep up. While the carrier thinks they meet the need by providing a translator, they aren’t educating the audience. More collateral in Spanish and other resources are needed. And beyond language barriers, there is also a genera tional factor at play in educating the Latino community. “When we talk about bilin gualism and the importance of this education, it is not only in an other language — it’s also genera tional,” she said. “Gen Z still rely on their parents. And especially now that they don’t have to come off their parent’s plan until age 26, they’re not in a hurry to find out Suarez said it is important that medical intakes — particularly mental health intakes — are conducted in Spanish so that the patient can properly express themselves. When Suarez was what 'deductible' means.” Mental health gap

The United States already has more Spanish speakers than Spain, and by 2050, the U.S. will have more Spanish speakers than Mexico. The industry must ad dress how to better communicate with Latino communities about insurance, healthcare and benefits. Ruby Ulloa of Savoy Associ ates mentors Hispanic and mi nority brokers, bridging cultural gaps in the benefits industry. She notes that many Hispanics who have come to the U.S. in the last two decades don’t have a famil iarity with insurance. “Typically, in Central America, many areas in Mexico, South America and the Caribbean, most people only know about insurance because of

elites,” she told attendees during the panel discussion “Equity in the Workplace — Benefit Bilin gual Translation” at NABIP’s Annual Convention. “You have to be very wealthy to have access to insurance in those countries. And so there’s a disconnect when they come to the United States. That’s why we need to create awareness and bring forward bilingual ism so that our people don’t fall behind,” she said. Ulloa was joined on the panel by Rosario Avila, who launched Alianza, the Spanish language di vision of Arrow Benefits, and Luis Suarez, founder of Sanarai, a firm focused on access to high-quality

Only 5% of mental health professionals in the U.S. can administer their services in Spanish versus 13% — and growing — of the

population that speaks Spanish at home.

MarsBars / iStock

16 bip magazine Winter 2024