How to become health literate and avoid unnecessary costs

A great way to stay on top of your health care costs is to understand what you’re talking about. Medline Plus reports that more than 90 million adults in the United States lack “health literacy.”

Health literacy is the ability to obtain, access and understand health information and use services to make appropriate health decisions. The more people know, the more they are able to avoid unnecessary trips to the hospital and higher costs.

90 million adults in the United States lack “health literacy.”

A CNN report finds that people with basic or low health literacy pay almost $2,500 more per year on average for medications, and more than $500 for physician office visits compared with those with “above basic” health literacy. As a whole, low health literacy costs the U.S. health care system between $106 billion and $238 billion each year.

Becoming health literate allows you to:

• Avoid unexpected costs
• Receive the correct prescriptions and treatments
• Communicate effectively with health care providers
• Understand how the health care system works

How do you become health care literate?

You can start by reviewing the helpful articles and documents on Voices’ Resources page, including the Medline Plus Health Literacy guide.

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