Reading level of Medicaid renewal applications.
OBJECTIVE
To examine compliance of Medicaid-renewal applications to established state guidelines for reading level of Medicaid-related materials.


METHODS
We assessed the reading level of the 2008 Medicaid renewal applications by using 3 readability tests: Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level Index, New Fog Count, and FORCAST.


RESULTS
In 2008, 45 states and the District of Columbia had reading level guidelines for Medicaid-related materials. Of these, 24 (52.2%) states' Medicaid renewal applications failed to meet their guidelines on all 3 readability tests; in particular, 41 states (89.1%) failed the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level Index. Only one state's application had a Flesch-Kincaid score below a 5th-grade reading level.


CONCLUSIONS
As health care reform unfolds, complying with established reading level guidelines for Medicaid-related materials is one simplification strategy that should be implemented to improve access for Medicaid-eligible families and prevent eligible children from losing coverage unnecessarily.
Division of Primary Care Pediatrics, State University of New York at Stony Brook, 11794-8111, USA. susmita.pati@stonybrook.edu
Susmita
S
Pati
Jane E
JE
Kavanagh
Suraj K
SK
Bhatt
Angie T
AT
Wong
Kathleen
K
Noonan
Avital
A
Cnaan
D032882:Comprehension; D004522:Educational Status; D019983:Guideline Adherence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D057220:Health Literacy; D006801:Humans; D008484:Medicaid / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011932:Reading; D014481:United States