Health insurance literacy: A mixed methods study of college students

Abstract

<b>Objective:</b> This study examines the health insurance literacy, or the ability to use health insurance effectively, of college students. <b>Participants:</b> A total of 455 students from a large, public university completed an online questionnaire in November 2016. <b>Methods:</b> A questionnaire examined students' knowledge of commonly encountered health insurance terms and ability to apply that knowledge to determine cost-sharing in a clinical setting. <b>Results:</b> The majority of students were able to correctly identify the most commonly encountered terms, but could not identify terms related to plan types and options. Eighty-eight percent of students could not determine their cost-sharing for two presented scenarios. Approximately half of the students indicated they had been confused about their health insurance plan, with one-quarter of students stopping or delaying medical care due to confusion. <b>Conclusions:</b> Outreach and education for students should target specific deficits in knowledge such as those identified in this study.