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Plain and clear: making Medi-Cal communications easy to understand
Plain and clear: making Medi-Cal communications easy to understand
- Collection:
- Health Policy and Services Research
- Series Title(s):
- Issue brief (California HealthCare Foundation)
- Author(s):
- Rothschild, Beccah, author
- Contributor(s):
- California HealthCare Foundation, issuing body.
- Publication:
- [Oakland, CA] : California Health Care Foundation, January 2022
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Text
- Subject(s):
- Communication Barriers
Communications Media
Medicare
California
United States - Genre(s):
- Technical Report
- Abstract:
- Medi-Cal is California’s Medicaid program. It provides health coverage to Californians with low incomes, including families with children, seniors, people with disabilities, pregnant people, people with low incomes and certain diseases, and those in foster care. In 2021, over 13 million Californians — one in three — relied on Medi-Cal for health coverage.1 But many of the adults served by Medi-Cal may not be able to read or understand the forms and documents they receive from the program. California has an English-language adult literacy level of 76.9%, among the lowest in the country. This means that 23.1% of adults in California lack basic “prose” literacy skills, defined as “the knowledge and skills to search, comprehend, and use continuous texts (e.g., editorials, news stories, brochures, and instructional materials).” However, many documents that Medi-Cal applicants and enrollees receive — including those that were part of this project — are written at between the 10th and 16th grade levels, a much higher level than the ideal 6th to 8th grade level at which they should be written. This discrepancy can cause challenges in applying for, obtaining, keeping, and using Medi-Cal. These challenges are further exacerbated for those whose native language is not English. The project, Improving the Usability of Medi-Cal Enrollee Communications, was conceived of as an opportunity to conduct expert review of selected Medi Cal communications for English-speaking enrollees and assess their usability, make actionable recommendations to improve them, and put steps in place for long-term change at the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS). This report discusses the process for doing so, key findings, recommended action steps, and recommended policy changes.
- Copyright:
- Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY-NC-ND license. (More information)
- Extent:
- 1 online resource (1 PDF file (15 pages)).
- NLM Unique ID:
- 9918366980706676 (See catalog record)
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9918366980706676