Insights on Improving Health Insurance Literacy in Diabetes.

Abstract

Context: Many adults with diabetes cannot afford medications or health care and have low health insurance literacy, resulting in psychological distress and barriers to optimal self-management.

Objective: This mini-review aimed to explore the effectiveness of health-insurance literacy interventions and provide recommendations for diabetes practice.

Methods: We conducted a thorough search of relevant PubMed and Scopus studies from 2014 to 2024. Our inclusion criteria were interventions or pilot intervention studies using the search terms "health insurance" OR "health insurance literacy" OR "population (oncology, young adults/college/university students, and adults)." We then meticulously analyzed the quality of these studies, and assessments were conducted in Excel. We synthesized the evidence on interventions used to support health-insurance literacy across chronic health conditions and the general population, and their applications to diabetes care. Our findings showed effective interventions address a population's specific learning needs and literacy level. Multiple/diverse methods were used, including web-based decision aids, virtual sessions, hands-on support from navigators, Serious Games, educational workshops, and online microvideo Toolkits. Critical gaps included defining and measuring health-care literacy.

Conclusion: Solutions for health-insurance education include strategies to incorporate education into academic curricula, diabetes transition programs, community health fairs, and employing community health workers within health-care systems. Although there is a validated health insurance literacy measure, consistent use of this measure across future programs can further the critically needed science in this field.