LITERACY HEALTH INSURANCE LITERACY Best communication practices for
LITERACY HEALTH INSURANCE LITERACY Best communication practices for in-person assisters in OE 3 Don Rubin VERBAL REMEDIES
Can you read this? Your naicisyhp has dednemmocer that you have a ypocsonoloc. Ypocsonoloc is a test for noloc recnac. It sevlovni gnitresni a elbixelf gniweiv epocs into your mutcer. You must drink a laiceps diuqil the thgin erofeb the noitanimaxe to naelc out your noloc. VERBAL REMEDIES
Can you read this? Co-pay Co-insurance Deductible Household d fie i l a u Q lth a e h n pla Life qu a eve lifyin g nt Inn pro etwo vid r er k Ma ou xim po t of um ex cket pe ns e PPO PO S HM O e c n a v d A ium m re edit Plat p inum x cr Gold ta. Plan Silve Plan r Pla Bron n ze P Cata lan s Plan trophic Benc h Plan mark
Comprehension of Medicare Patients with Low Literacy Percent Correct Identify next appointment Take medicine every 6 hours Take medicine on empty stomach Interpret blood sugar value Upper GI instructions (4 th grade) Medicaid Rights (10 th grade) 73% 52% 46% 32% 24% 0% GGa Gazmararian et al. , 1999 VERBAL REMEDIES
43% of uninsured didn’t know about government subsidies for insurance VERBAL REMEDIES
VERBAL REMEDIES
Adult Literacy in Georgia • 1 of 6 adult Georgians reads at K-6 level • 16% of adult Georgians lack a HS diploma • 1 of 7 unemployed Georgians has not finished high school • 75% of incarcerated persons lack a HS diploma. • 1 in 10 Georgians is an immigrant and does not speak English as their native language. VERBAL REMEDIES
Integrate Health Literacy into Adult Basic Education and ESo. L VERBAL REMEDIES
What is Health Literacy? The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, Title V, defines health literacy as… … the degree to which an individual has the capacity to obtain, communicate, process, and understand basic health information and services to make appropriate health decisions. VERBAL REMEDIES
Why is Health Literacy Important? Persons with limited health literacy: • Experience more preventable hospital admissions. • Too often end up in the ER for conditions that could be treated at home or in the doctor’s office • Are less likely to adhere to treatment. • Commit more medication errors • Do a poor job of self-management of chronic conditions • Less likely to obtain health insurance
Health Literacy can mitigate health disparities • Race predicts variance in HIV medication nonadherence (AOR=2. 4) • When a measure of health literacy is added to the set of predictors, race becomes non-signficant [Osborne, Paashe. Orlow & Davis, 2007] • Similar result among elderly for selfrated health (Bennett et al, 2009)
What is Health Insurance Literacy? • Ability to find and evaluate information about health plans • Ability to select the best plan for their (family) financial and health situation • Knowledge about using insurance once enrolled to obtain needed preventive and therapeutic care. VERBAL REMEDIES
Why is Health Insurance Literacy Important? • Consumers stay in the same plan year after • Poor health insurance literacy leads to… year, ignore better choices (Gruber). – Reluctance to enroll • 88% cannot calculate – Selecting plan that does health insurance costs not meet needs or is using a table based on unaffordable income and family size – Failing to utilize benefits (Kutner et al. ). • Consumers struggle with cost-sharing terms, e. g. , coinsurance, allowed amount, annual benefit (Quincy). VERBAL REMEDIES
Can we make it any easier? VERBAL REMEDIES
What’s in the Health Insurance Literacy Toolkit? • Packaging & staging information for usability • SOCO – Single Over-riding Communication Objective • Engaging Consumers/Dialogue – inviting Consumer questions • • • Plain language Analogies & Metaphors Examples Stories Visuals
Draw this! You got insurance from the Marketplace. So you must send in a tax return next year. You have to attach a special form called 1095 A with your taxes. The 1095 A form tells about your insurance cost. The Marketplace will give you the information you need for your 1095 A. The information from the Marketplace will come on another form called 8962 VERBAL REMEDIES
Plain language & redesign exercise -- Can you make this notice more health literate? VERBAL REMEDIES
Enrollment is not the finish line: Help clients access healthcare services • • Budget for monthly premiums Choose a primary care provider Set aside money for out-of-pocket costs Schedule preventive services • Getting past the front desk • Learn how to see a doctor • Shop again to e-enroll
Don Rubin verbalremedies@outlook. com drubin@uga. edu 404. 660. 0911 VERBAL REMEDIES
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