Health insurance literacy among patients receiving outpatient cancer treatment.

BACKGROUND

This study examines patients' understanding of health insurance terms and concepts and quantifies health insurance literacy (HIL) levels by key sociodemographic factors.

METHODS

This study included 393 adult patients with cancer (>18 years old) receiving treatment in two ambulatory infusion centers: Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, Arizona and the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, Mississippi. Respondents' perceptions of their HIL were assessed using the Health Insurance Literacy Measure (HILM), a validated 21-item measure of a consumer's ability to select and use health insurance (HIL self-efficacy). Respondents' knowledge of health insurance concepts (HIL knowledge) was measured using 10 items created by the Kaiser Family Foundation. The number of correct answers was categorized into three levels: 0-4 (low knowledge), 5-6 (moderate knowledge), and 7-10 (high knowledge). Multivariable logistic regressions were used to compare correct answers to HIL knowledge questions by HIL self-efficacy.

RESULTS

Nearly three-quarters of patients had high HIL self-efficacy and high HIL knowledge (70.5%), understanding basic insurance terms, such as premiums and deductibles. Relatively low percentages of patients correctly answered questions about the meaning of provider networks, health insurance formularies, and calculating out-of-pocket spending in scenarios when insurers pay a portion of allowed charges. Lower HIL knowledge was more common among patients with less educational attainment (<college: 15.2%; ≥college: 4.7%), lower household income (<$4999: 11.8%; ≥$5000: 6.1%), and low HIL self-efficacy scores (low: 24.8%; high: 5.2) (all p values <.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Efforts to improve HIL and navigation of health insurance plan features are required, especially for socioeconomically vulnerable patients.