Effective Communication to Improve Decision Making About Health Care Plans

First, this study will examine people's understanding of health insurance plan terminology
and details through qualitative interviews with 50 uninsured individuals. These responses
will then lead to the development of three communication strategies to improve understanding
of health insurance plans: 1) plain language, 2) plain language plus visual displays and 3)
plain language plus narratives.

The strategies will the be pilot tested with 30 individuals to assess readability, clarity
of language, and layout. The revised communication strategies will be tested with 280
individuals in a randomized experiment. Individuals will be randomly assigned to either a
plain language condition alone, a plain language + visual displays condition, and a plain
language + narrative condition.

Inclusion Criteria:

- Must be without health insurance currently

- Must have been without health insurance at some point in the past 12 months

- Must speak English

Exclusion Criteria:

- Currently has health insurance and has not had any lapses in coverage in the past 12
months

- Does not speak English