Health Literacy Innovations Releases New Survey on Medicaid Health Literacy...( BETHESDA Md. Oct. 2 -- Sixty-six...),Health

BETHESDA, Md., Oct. 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Sixty-six percent of all Medicaid agencies call for at least a 6th grade reading level for written health material, making this standard the most popular among states, according to a new survey by Health Literacy Innovations, a company that creates tools to enhance health literacy.

The survey, "A National Survey of Medicaid Guidelines for Health Literacy," represents a snapshot of the state's health literacy standards for Medicaid recipients. Among other trends, the survey reveals:

-- The majority - 90% - of all states have specific readability

guidelines for their Medicaid materials.

-- 56% call for a 6th grade reading level.

-- 66% call for a 6th grade reading level or a range that

includes 6th grade.

-- 14% call for a 4th grade reading level.

-- 6% call for a reading level between 4th and 6th grade.

-- 2% call for a 3rd grade reading level.

"This growing trend toward lower readability levels in the Medicaid program is important news for states nationwide and for the health care community in general," says Aracely Rosales, Chief Content Expert and Multi-lingual Director, a nationally recognized health literacy expert and Health Literacy Innovations partner. "It not only reveals that states are requesting clear language for their Medicaid members, and at a level that takes real work, but shows a positive trend toward closing the gap between what consumers can understand and can read, and the information the health care industry produces, which today is about a 10th grade reading level," says Rosales.

About Health Literacy Innovations

Knowing that low health literacy hurts patient care, and that literacy is a stronger predictor of health than age, education, race or ethnicity or income, Health Literacy Innovations produces the Health Literacy Adv
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