Abstract
Objective
To examine compliance of Medicaid-renewal applications to established state guidelines
for reading level of Medicaid-related materials.
Methods
We assessed the reading level of the 2008 Medicaid renewal applications by using 3
readability tests: Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level Index, New Fog Count, and FORCAST.
Results
In 2008, 45 states and the District of Columbia had reading level guidelines for Medicaid-related
materials. Of these, 24 (52.2%) states’ Medicaid renewal applications failed to meet
their guidelines on all 3 readability tests; in particular, 41 states (89.1%) failed
the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level Index. Only one state’s application had a Flesch-Kincaid
score below a 5th-grade reading level.
Conclusions
As health care reform unfolds, complying with established reading level guidelines
for Medicaid-related materials is one simplification strategy that should be implemented
to improve access for Medicaid-eligible families and prevent eligible children from
losing coverage unnecessarily.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: June 11, 2012
Accepted:
April 17,
2012
Received:
October 26,
2011
Identification
Copyright
© 2012 Academic Pediatric Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
