Notice of Availability of Language Assistance and Auxiliary Aids and Services
noindex.
It cannot publish until counsel review + Georgia top-15 LEP language list is confirmed by ACHS. Every page needs a named approver before it goes live — DCH General Services §605.1.28 makes
each published version a retained advertising record.
Federal law requires health programs that receive federal financial assistance to tell people that language assistance services and auxiliary aids are available free of charge, in English and in the fifteen most common languages spoken by limited-English-proficient residents of the state. This notice is in preparation.
Status
This document has not been drafted, has not been reviewed by counsel, and is not in effect. Nothing on this page is an operative notice or a statement of current agency policy.
What this document must cover
The notice is a regulated document under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act and its implementing regulation at 45 CFR Part 92. Whoever drafts it must produce all of the following.
- The core statement, in English: that language assistance services and appropriate auxiliary aids and services are available free of charge to people with limited English proficiency and to people with disabilities, and how to obtain them.
- Translations into the fifteen languages most commonly spoken by limited-English-proficient individuals in Georgia. The list is taken from the language data HHS publishes for each state. It is not a judgment call and must not be assembled from local impressions of which languages are common.
- A contact route for requesting assistance, consistent with the contact details in site config. Do not hard-code a number into the page body.
- Placement. Prominently on the website, in physical locations where the agency interacts with the public, and alongside applications, consent forms, notices of privacy practices, complaint forms and billing communications.
- A companion nondiscrimination notice, and confirmation of which of the 2024 rule’s separate notice requirements apply and on what schedule.
Two points for the drafter. First, the 2024 rule’s compliance date for this notice was 5 July 2025; this is current law, not a forthcoming obligation, and a covered entity without the notice is out of compliance now. Second, the requirements changed materially between the 2016, 2020 and 2024 rules, so template language circulating from the earlier versions cannot be reused without checking it against the current text.
Nothing about language capability may be stated on this site until it is verified. In particular, no page may promise service in a specific language that the agency cannot actually provide.
Questions people ask about this
What is a notice of availability?
A required statement telling people that language assistance services and auxiliary aids and services are available at no cost, and how to ask for them. It is required under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, which prohibits discrimination in health programs receiving federal financial assistance.
Does this requirement apply to a Medicaid case management agency?
Section 1557 applies to health programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance, and participation in Medicaid is a form of federal financial assistance. Small size does not exempt a covered entity from the notice requirement.
Why is this page not yet complete?
The notice must be published in English plus fifteen specified languages, drawn from federal data on the languages spoken by limited-English-proficient residents of the state, and it must be reviewed alongside the agency's other required notices before it goes live.
Related questions
- Accessibility This site's accessibility target, the features built into it for older and disabled readers, known gaps, and how to report a problem. The statement is not yet in effect.
- Notice of Privacy Practices The HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices describing how health information is used and disclosed. This document is in preparation and is not yet in effect.