FAIR Health Initiative Reveals Value of Health Insurance Literacy Resources among Hispanics and Latinos

Campaign Leads to Almost 600,000 Impressions and over 85,000 Downloads of the FH^® Consumer Classroom App

NEW YORK, July 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A campaign to promote a health insurance literacy app, FH Consumer Classroom, led to over 85,000 downloads and garnered positive attention from consumer survey respondents, who reported that the app was useful in learning about the healthcare system and insurance plans. These are among the findings reported in a new brief from the national, independent nonprofit FAIR Health. Entitled Advancing Health Insurance Literacy among Hispanic and Latino Communities: Lessons from FAIR Health's FH^® LAUNCH (Learn, Access and Understand Navigation of Choices in Healthcare) Español Initiative, the brief reveals the findings of an initiative to advance health insurance literacy in Hispanic, Latino and Spanish-speaking young adults in the New York City metropolitan area. The initiative—called FH^® LAUNCH Español and generously funded by The New York Community Trust (The Trust)—involved the dissemination of the FH Consumer Classroom mobile app, which is available for both iOS and Android.

Launched in April 2021, the FH Consumer Classroom app is available in both English and Spanish, and offers the same educational platform available on FAIR Health's consumer websites in a concise, visually welcoming and user-friendly format. Through articles, videos, a glossary, resources and interactive puzzle games, users can learn about health insurance and how to navigate the healthcare system.

As part of the FH LAUNCH Español initiative, in September 2021, FAIR Health implemented an educational outreach campaign targeting Hispanic, Latino and Spanish-speaking young adults (aged 18-26) in New York City, with an additional focus on formerly incarcerated reentry populations. The campaign, which was developed in tandem with an ad agency that serves Spanish-speaking populations, involved Facebook ads, digital display ads and targeted outreach to New York state and county health departments, social service organizations and agencies, two- and four-year colleges, correctional/reentry programs and other salient stakeholders. Ads and all promotional materials, such as postcards, were developed in English and Spanish.

Other Key Findings

FAIR Health assessed the utility and value of the app through informal interviews and feedback from a brief survey on the app.

Importance of Communicating through Diverse Channels with Culturally Relevant Messaging:
The success of the social media and digital ad campaign was rooted in multichannel dissemination with culturally relevant messaging. Campaign messaging, which was featured on promotional and educational materials, played off the classroom theme. An example of messaging (translated to English) included: "If learning about health insurance seems like an impossible assignment. Download this App." The social media and digital ads resulted in nearly 600,000 impressions (reflecting over 95,000 individuals), most of these in the greater New York area. Overall, the dissemination campaign, which also included targeted organizational outreach, led to more than 85,000 app downloads.

Utility and Value of HIL Resources:
Nearly 73 percent of survey respondents reported that they found the app "useful" or "very useful"; more than half (55 percent) of respondents said that the app made them more confident in their ability to evaluate healthcare quality and health insurance plans.

Acceptability of FH Consumer Classroom and Appetite for Resources:
Interviews revealed the acceptability of the app and an appetite for resources that advance health insurance literacy. Interviewees expressed the need for "centralized" information about healthcare and health insurance, especially for young adults.

FAIR Health President Robin Gelburd stated, "FAIR Health gratefully acknowledges The Trust's support for this important initiative. We remain committed to equipping consumers with actionable tools such as the FH Consumer Classroom app to support their ability to navigate the healthcare system and make informed decisions."

Irfan Hasan, Deputy Vice President for Grants at The Trust, said, "The Trust was proud to support the dissemination of a valuable resource such as the FH Consumer Classroom app for those who currently lack the tools and support to effectively navigate the healthcare system. FAIR Health's effort to promote the app to individuals who face language-based and other barriers to navigating the healthcare system is yet another step in the right direction of empowering individuals to make informed healthcare decisions."

To read the brief, click here.

Access FH Consumer Classroom from iOS or Android.

About FAIR Health

FAIR Health is a national, independent nonprofit organization that qualifies as a public charity under section 501(c)(3) of the federal tax code. It is dedicated to bringing transparency to healthcare costs and health insurance information through data products, consumer resources and health systems research support. FAIR Health possesses the nation's largest collection of private healthcare claims data, which includes over 36 billion claim records and is growing at a rate of over 2 billion claim records a year. FAIR Health licenses its privately billed data and data products—including benchmark modules, data visualizations, custom analytics and market indices—to commercial insurers and self-insurers, employers, providers, hospitals and healthcare systems, government agencies, researchers and others. Certified by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) as a national Qualified Entity, FAIR Health also receives data representing the experience of all individuals enrolled in traditional Medicare Parts A, B and D; FAIR Health includes among the private claims data in its database, data on Medicare Advantage enrollees. FAIR Health can produce insightful analytic reports and data products based on combined Medicare and commercial claims data for government, providers, payors and other authorized users. FAIR Health's systems for processing and storing protected health information have earned HITRUST CSF certification and achieved AICPA SOC 2 compliance by meeting the rigorous data security requirements of these standards. As a testament to the reliability and objectivity of FAIR Health data, the data have been incorporated in statutes and regulations around the country and designated as the official, neutral data source for a variety of state health programs, including workers' compensation and personal injury protection (PIP) programs. FAIR Health data serve as an official reference point in support of certain state balance billing laws that protect consumers against bills for surprise out-of-network and emergency services. FAIR Health also uses its database to power a free consumer website available in English and Spanish, which enables consumers to estimate and plan for their healthcare expenditures and offers a rich educational platform on health insurance. An English/Spanish mobile app offers the same educational platform in a concise format and links to the cost estimation tools. The website has been honored by the White House Summit on Smart Disclosure, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), URAC, the eHealthcare Leadership Awards, appPicker, Employee Benefit News and Kiplinger's Personal Finance. FAIR Health also is named a top resource for patients in Dr. Marty Makary's book The Price We Pay: What Broke American Health Care—and How to Fix It and Dr. Elisabeth Rosenthal's book An American Sickness: How Healthcare Became Big Business and How You Can Take It Back. For more information on FAIR Health, visit fairhealth.org.