Important to provide literacy about the health care system

Now that enrollment for Covered California health coverage has begun, it is important to understand the health care and health insurance system, which can often be difficult to understand.

The onus is not only on the patient to understand what health care professionals are saying during an office visit, but also on those involved in the system to ensure that people can access and understand basic health information to make decisions about their health. That is, physicians, nurses, health insurance providers and even public health officials.

Dr. Susana Ramirez, Associate Professor and Research Fellow in Public Health Communication and Health Literacy, University of California, Merced (UC Merced), recognizes that the concepts of the health care system and coverage are complicated and that can inhibit our community from signing up for health coverage.

She stresses that one goal is to get them to understand the concepts so they can choose coverage that meets their needs.

The Public Health Communication and Health Literacy Researcher at the University of California, Merced (UC Merced), shares what our community does not understand about the system.
She even says that if the information is in Spanish or indigenous language it is not necessarily understood, let’s listen to Dr. Susana Ramirez.

The health literacy expert says that the goal is to standardize translation and eliminate barriers to understanding how to enroll and take advantage of medical coverage.

One of the problems of not understanding the terms can affect our health by not understanding the diagnosis, which causes confusion among Latinos.

Also, unlike our countries in the US, we have to understand terms such as deductibles, co-payments, which are concepts of a complex health care system.

She comments that a campaign is currently underway in the state of California called Let’s talk about health, which tries to educate our community and make them aware of Covered California’s medical coverage, but also seeks to make them literate, since a person who is more educated on these issues is more likely to take better care of his or her health.

Dr. Susana Ramirez, Associate Professor and Researcher of Public Health Communication and Health Literacy, University of California, Merced (UC Merced), says that this campaign will be in public bookstores to help decide the coverage plan with Covered California.