HRA collaborated with the California Office of the Patient Advocate and Department of Managed Health Care to educate Californians about their rights and responsibilities under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

The project began with an electronic survey of 77 organizations serving California’s health care consumers, to assess the needs for information on health care reform and find out what was available for consumers about the ACA. Results showed that providers have a need for easy-to-understand resources in multiple languages, and that most of the resources currently available are too difficult for clients to understand.

To help meet these needs, HRA developed multilingual print and video resources, using health literacy best practices. These materials will help Californians understand and use their new rights and opportunities. The print materials include a health reform glossary and a series of fact sheets, including fact sheets on appeals and grievances, preventive care, dental care for children, interpreter services, and resources for employees of small businesses (including Covered California, the health exchange). Videos in English, Spanish, Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese) and ASL were also produced. The materials will be available here and on the OPA website soon.

More information about this project is available in HRA's Research & Projects link on our website.

Other Health Care Reform news:
HRA's Professor Linda Neuhauser was recently featured in a webinar, “Health Communication Matters: The Ongoing Challenge to Explain and Implement the Affordable Care Act,” with other experts in ACA-related health literacy and health insurance literacy initiatives. Only about 10 percent of the general population is considered “health literate.” That leaves the vast majority of people facing barriers to understanding the health-related information we read. Webinar participants discussed communication challenges after the passage of the complex ACA. This was part of a series of webinars sponsored by the CA Pacific Public Health Training Center, APHA's Community Health Planning and Policy Development section, Health Communication Working Group, and CPHA-N.

You can hear the webinar recording and view presentation slides and resources at https://cc.readytalk.com/cc/s/meetingArchive?eventId=u2d6y2x1kysj&campaignId=tocshng9tbwi