Smart Choice Health Insurance©

Abstract

Smart Choice Health Insurance© is a consumer education program based on the definition and emerging measurement of health insurance literacy and a review of literature and appropriate theoretical frameworks. An interdisciplinary team of financial and health educators was formed to develop and pilot the program, with the goal of reducing confusion and increasing confidence in the consumer’s ability to make a smart health insurance decision. Educators in seven states, certified to teach the program, conducted workshops for 994 consumers. Results show statistically significant evidence of increased health insurance literacy, confidence, and capacity to make a smart choice health insurance choice. Discussion centers on the impact the program had on specific groups, next steps to reach a larger audience, and implications for educators, consumers, and policymakers nationwide.

Keywords

health insurance literacy health literacy health education Smart Choice

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Ajzen

Fishbein

(1980). Understanding attitudes and predicting social behavior. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Braun

McCoy

Finkbeiner

(2013). Extension education theoretical framework: Criterion-referenced assessment tools. Retrieved from http://extension.umd.edu/insure

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2015). Health literacy for public health professionals. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/healthliteracy/training/index.html

Chervin

Clift

Woods

Krause

Lee

(2012). Health literacy in adult education: A natural partnership for health equity. Health Promotion Practice, 13, 738-746.

Department of Labor. (2013). General facts on women and job based health. Retrieved from http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/newsroom/fshlth5.html

Doak

Root

(1996). Teaching patients with low literacy levels (2nd ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Harris-Kojetin

L. D.

Uhrig

J. D.

Williams

Bann

Frentzel

E. M.

McCormack

. . . West

(2007). The “Choose With Care System”: Development of education materials to support informed Medicare health plan choices. Journal of Heath Communication, 12, 133-156.

Himmelstein

D. U.

Thonre

Warren

Woolhandler

(2009). Medical bankruptcy in the United States, 2007: Results of a national study. American Journal of Medicine, 122, 741-746.

Huston

S. J.

(2010). Measuring financial literay. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 44, 296-316.

10.

Kim

Braun

Williams

A. D.

(2013). Understanding health insurance literacy: A literature review. Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal, 42, 3-13.

11.

Londono

A. M.

Schulz

P. J.

(2015). Influences of health literacy, judment skills and empowerment on asthma self-management practices. Patient Education and Counseling, 98, 908-917.

12.

Martinez

M. E.

Cohen

R. A.

(2013). Health insurance coverage: Early release of estimates from the national health interview survey, January-September. Atlanta, GA: National Center for Health Statistics. Retrieved from http://iwsdocumentednewsdaily.blogspot.com/2015/03/iws-nchs-health-insurance-coverage.html

13.

National Institutes of Health. (2005). Theory at a glance. Retrieved from http://www.med.upenn.edu/chbr/documents/TheoryataGlance.pdf

14.

Paez

Goldstein

Ganachari

(2013). Developing a measure of health insurance literacy: Understanding consumers’ ability to choose and use insurance. Retrieved from http://www.air.org/files/Health_Insurance_Literacy_Issues_Brief_2.25.13.pdf

15.

Paez

Mallery

C. J.

Harmoni

J. N.

Pugliese

McSorley

V. E.

Ganachari

(2014). Development of the health insurance literacy measure (HLM): Conceptualizing and measuring consumer abiity to choose and use private health insurance. Journal of Health Communication: International Perspectives, 19(Suppl. 2), 225-239.

16.

Prochaska

J. O.

DiClemente

C. C.

(1984). The transtheoretical approach: Towards a systematic electic framework. Homewood, IL: Dow Jones Irwin.

17.

Pulvirenti

McMillan

Lawn

(2011). Empowerment, patient centred care and self-management. Health Expectations, 17, 303-310.

18.

Quincy

(2012a). Measuring health insurance literacy: A call to action. Retrieved from http://consumersunion.org/pub/Health_Insurance_Literacy_Roundtable_rpt.pdf

19.

Quincy

(2012b). The evidence is clear: Too many health insurance choices can impair, not help, consumer decision making. Retrieved from http://consumersunion.org/research/report-the-evidence-is-clear-too-many-health-insurance-choices-can-impair-not-help-consumer-decision-making/

20.

Quincy

(2012c). What’s behind the door: Consumers’ difficulties selecting health plans. Retrieved from http://consumersunion.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Consumer_Difficulties_Selecting_Health_Plans_Jan2012.pdf

21.

Smith

J. C.

Medalia

(2014). Health insurance coverage in the United States. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

22.

Spreitzer

(1995). Psychological empowerment in the workplace: Dimensions, measurement and validation. Journal of Academic Management, 38, 1442-1465.

23.

United States Census Bureau. (2015). Health insurance coverage in the United States: 2014 (Publication No. P60-253). U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC.

24.

University of Missouri Extension. (2013). Health insurance education: Options for you and your family. Retrieved from http://extension.missouri.edu/p/CB24

25.

Varkey

Kureshi

Lesnick

(2010). Empowerment of women and its association with the health of the community. Journal of Women’s Health, 19, 71-76.

26.

V. Y.

Jacobson

K. L.

Wong

W. F.

Patel

K. K.

Hernandez

L. M.

Isham

Parker

R. M.

(2013). Let’s Ask 4: Questions for consumers and providers about health insurance. Washington, DC: Institute of Medicine. Retrieved from http://www.healthliteracy.org.nz/resource/lets-ask-4-questions-for-consumers-and-providers-about-health-insurance-2013-us/