FAIR Health to Launch Initiative Promoting Health Insurance Literacy to Hispanic and Latinx Communities
September 16, 2021
With a generous grant from The New York Community Trust (The Trust), FAIR Health is launching today an educational campaign to promote health insurance literacy among bilingual and Spanish-dominant Hispanic and Latinx communities in the New York metropolitan area. The grant is supporting the FH® Learn, Access and Understand Navigation of Choices in Healthcare (LAUNCH) Español project.
Disparities in health insurance literacy—the ability to find and evaluate information related to coverage, select the coverage best suited to one’s circumstances and use the plan knowledgeably once enrolled—disproportionately affect Hispanic and Latinx communities, impairing their ability to navigate the healthcare system. Building on FAIR Health’s prior grant-funded efforts to advance health insurance literacy among these communities, the FH LAUNCH Español initiative will promote FH® Consumer Classroom. This free mobile app educates users on health insurance and healthcare quality through an award-winning educational platform comprising articles, videos and a glossary, as well as key resources and interactive games to support learning. The user-friendly app also links to FAIR Health’s nationally recognized FH® Medical and Dental Cost Lookup Tools, which enable consumers to estimate the typical costs of medical and dental procedures.
Available on the Apple App Store and Google Play, FH Consumer Classroom provides easy access to the educational materials also found on FAIR Health’s consumer website, fairhealthconsumer.org, and is available in Spanish and English. The launch will occur just after the September 15 start of Hispanic Heritage Month.
To develop the initiative’s English- and Spanish-language educational, classroom-themed campaign, FAIR Health will utilize culturally relevant messaging and diverse channels—including digital-, organizational- and community-based outreach. The campaign will target young adults, who often lack experience with health insurance when they age out of their parents’ health plans, along with formerly incarcerated individuals reentering society.
Campaign messaging, which will be featured on social media ads and posts, and on promotional and educational materials, will include: “If learning about health insurance seems like an impossible assignment. Download this App.” and “If finding dental costs requires an intensive course. Download this App.”
FAIR Health President Robin Gelburd said, “We thank The New York Community Trust, an early and steadfast champion of FAIR Health’s consumer-facing work, for its generous support of this critically important initiative. The new grant will advance FAIR Health’s efforts to reach Hispanic and Latinx communities with a culturally sensitive educational campaign in English and Spanish to advance health insurance understanding and consumer empowerment.”
Irfan Hasan, Deputy Vice President for Grants at The Trust, said: “The New York Community Trust is proud to support FAIR Health’s efforts to broaden health insurance literacy among Hispanic and Latinx populations, and enhance their ability to make informed decisions about their care and coverage.”