The impact of health literacy on health equity

Written by Dr. Alex Billioux, UnitedHealthcare Government Programs Chief Medical Officer


One of the biggest challenges to getting and keeping healthy is understanding the often-confusing language of health care. Health literacy, the ability to clearly understand health information in order to make informed decisions about care,1 is essential to empowering healthier communities, especially in Medicaid markets — where 60% are either at “below basic” or “basic” health literacy levels.2

Medical terminology may be unfamiliar to most people, and navigating unfamiliar terms on a topic as important as your health can be overwhelming. Understanding and knowing how to interpret information about your own health can help you manage your care more effectively, make decisions you feel confident in, and can help keep you and those around you healthier. 

Health literacy is also a social driver of health.2 Limited or a lack of this knowledge can lead to challenges managing health, greater care costs2 and can worsen gaps in health in underserved areas and among people who have experienced discrimination. Improving health equity, where everyone has a fair and just opportunity to be as healthy as possible3, takes removing these barriers to care and finding innovative ways to boost health literacy at scale.

So what can we — as providers, health care organizations and community members — do to help improve health literacy and reduce inequities?

  • For providers: Use simple, plain language when meeting with patients to discuss health care conditions. By limiting medical jargon, more people may understand even complicated health care topics. Providers and/or their staff should also use preferred, culturally and linguistically appropriate language to help eliminate barriers for people who may have limited proficiency in English.
  • For health care organizations: Develop health care materials that can be easily understood by most audiences, ensuring the information shared is correct, clear and also accessible. Format materials being distributed so the most important information appears first. Look for opportunities to work with trusted community organizations as ambassadors to share information.4
  • For community members: To make the best decisions possible for your health care, it’s important to understand the health care language related to it. That means feeling comfortable asking questions if something is not clear or having a trusted family member with you at appointments to help.


Making it easier for our members, patients, and communities to understand and confidently make decisions about their care helps reduce some of the gaps in care caused by unfamiliar wording, language barriers and inadequate accessibility.

It’s important to remember that, just like keeping healthy, keeping up your health literacy requires ongoing effort to help make an impact. In order for consumers to have a thorough understanding of information related to their well-being, it needs to be a shared responsibility within the health care environment as a necessity for keeping communities healthy and safe.

Author bio

Dr. Alex Billioux is the Government Programs Chief Medical Officer for UnitedHealthcare where he identifies and develops programs aimed to help improve health outcomes for Medicare and Medicaid populations.

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