Spanish ObamaCare Site Also a Headache

Like it's not written in proper Spanish, for one thing
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 12, 2014 4:50 PM CST
Seeking ObamaCare in Spanish? Bring Your Aspirin
In this Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2014 photo, Yolanda Madrid of Miami, left, talks with navigator Daniela Campos, right, while signing up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, in Miami.    (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Welcome to ObamaCare's website woes, part two: the Spanish version. Americans who visit CuidadoDeSalud.gov to enroll for ObamaCare say it's slow, has links to English-speaking pages, and poor translations—like using "prima" for "premium" even though the Spanish word is commonly used for "female cousin," the AP reports. "When you get into the details of the plans, it's not all written in Spanish," says a health care navigator who helps people enroll in Miami. "It's written in Spanglish, so we end up having to translate it for them."

So attempts to enroll Spanish-speakers seem to be flailing so far (the exact numbers aren't in) and critics are pouncing; Hot Air calls it yet another "grandiose" ObamaCare promise that falls "tremendously, incompetently flat." But the Obama administration notes that Spanish speakers have been able to use phone and paper options to enroll. And that may suit some Hispanics better, according to an NBC News report on health care among low-wage, Spanish-speaking workers near Silicon Valley. Many of them say they have no Internet connection and wouldn't feel comfortable handing over personal information online. (More ObamaCare stories.)

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