--- title: How Healthcare Literacy Can Save Lives During the COVID-19 Pandemic description: 5 Steps to Improve Your Employees’ Healthcare Literacy - Download our Guide to learn How Healthcare Literacy Can Save Lives During the COVID-19 Pandemic --- [![Nonstop](https://blog.nonstophealth.com/hs-fs/hubfs/2022-nonstop/images/Nonstop_Logo-22-Horizontal%20(2).png?width=1501&name=Nonstop_Logo-22-Horizontal%20(2).png "Nonstop")](https://www.nonstophealth.com/) ** - [ Outcomes ](https://blog.nonstophealth.com/how-healthcare-literacy-can-save-lives-during-the-covid-19-pandemic#) - [![icon-1](https://blog.nonstophealth.com/hubfs/2022-nonstop/images/icon-1.svg) Benefits Nonstop Health can improve benefits and lower costs for employees and employers. ](https://www.nonstophealth.com/benefits) - [![icon-2](https://blog.nonstophealth.com/hubfs/2022-nonstop/images/icon-2.svg) Services & Technology Get the most out of your plan with easy administration and usage tracking. ](https://www.nonstophealth.com/services) - [ Resources ](https://blog.nonstophealth.com/how-healthcare-literacy-can-save-lives-during-the-covid-19-pandemic#) - [![icon-1](https://blog.nonstophealth.com/hubfs/2022-nonstop/images/icon-1.svg) Support Our support team is ready to help, whether you’re an employer, member, or broker. ](https://www.nonstophealth.com/support) - [![icon-3](https://blog.nonstophealth.com/hubfs/2022-nonstop/images/icon-3.svg) Case Studies Seeing our solution in action. ](https://offers.nonstophealth.com/case-studies) - [![icon-4](https://blog.nonstophealth.com/hubfs/2022-nonstop/images/icon-4.svg) Blog Insights and updates to help navigate the health insurance landscape. ](https://blog.nonstophealth.com) - [![icon-5](https://blog.nonstophealth.com/hubfs/2022-nonstop/images/icon-5.svg) Podcasts A collection of conversations built to inspire. ](https://www.nonstophealth.com/podcast) - [![icon-6](https://blog.nonstophealth.com/hubfs/2022-nonstop/images/icon-6.svg) Webinar & Guides Insights and resources to help your organization thrive. ](https://offers.nonstophealth.com/resources) - [ About Us ](https://blog.nonstophealth.com/how-healthcare-literacy-can-save-lives-during-the-covid-19-pandemic#) - [![icon-7](https://blog.nonstophealth.com/hubfs/2022-nonstop/images/icon-7.svg) Our Team Learn about who we are and what drives us. ](https://www.nonstophealth.com/about-us) - [![icon-8](https://blog.nonstophealth.com/hubfs/2022-nonstop/images/icon-8.svg) Careers Discover rewarding employment opportunities with Nonstop. ](https://www.nonstophealth.com/careers) - [ Account login ](https://www.nonstophealth.com/alert) - [ For employees ](https://members.prod.nonstophealth.com/) - [ For employers ](https://clients.nonstophealth.com/) - [ For brokers ](https://channel.nonstophealth.com/) - [ Contact Us ](https://www.nonstophealth.com/contact-us) # How Healthcare Literacy Can Save Lives During the COVID-19 Pandemic According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services1, *only* twelve (12%) percent of adults in the United States have proficient healthcare literacy. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines health literacy or healthcare literacy as "the degree to which an individual has a capacity to obtain, communicate, process, and understand basic health information and services to make appropriate health decisions."2 The expenses of improperly accessed healthcare negatively impact both the individual and the overall cost of healthcare premiums, adding to expense for your organization as well. That’s why it's so important for leaders to be passionate about health and healthcare literacy; the COVID-19 pandemic has made it clear that healthcare literacy can save lives. It’s important to continue to [learn more about healthcare literacy](https://offers.nonstopwellness.com/guide/why-every-ceo-and-cfo-should-care-about-healthcare-literacy) (resources like articles and white papers are a great place to start)— and what you can do to increase healthcare literacy for your organization because the impact, especially in the era of COVID, goes far beyond financial. According to Dr. Iris Z. Feinberg 3 (chair of the Georgia Alliance for Health Literacy), as many as 66 million Americans have been made more vulnerable to the COVID-19 crisis due to an inability to understand the healthcare-related materials they’re presented with. While the full measure of healthcare illiteracy’s consequences have yet to be quantified, pre-pandemic numbers estimated that those with low healthcare literacy put a burden of as much as 5% on annual healthcare costs.4 These burdens could be avoided if more employers take a proactive approach to helping employees make good decisions about medical care and insurance. As leaders in your organization, taking an active approach to providing and reinforcing proper healthcare literacy is an enormous benefit to employees and the workforce as a whole. That’s why Nonstop has created a guide to healthcare literacy that includes a five-part solution to the problem of health literacy to help guide your employees to understanding the value of their benefits and making the best decisions when it comes to their healthcare.[ Click here to access five steps to improved healthcare literacy.](https://offers.nonstopwellness.com/guide/why-every-ceo-and-cfo-should-care-about-healthcare-literacy) **5 Steps to Improve Your Employees’ Healthcare Literacy** [![DOWNLOAD THE GUIDE NOW >](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/569324/5ca0dfe1-2c2b-404d-bdfd-ed50a13dbeaf.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/569324/5ca0dfe1-2c2b-404d-bdfd-ed50a13dbeaf) Sources: - [https://www.cdc.gov/healthliteracy/learn/index.html](https://www.cdc.gov/healthliteracy/learn/index.html)1 - [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2668931/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2668931/)2 - [https://www.mdatl.com/2020/04/silent-killer-epidemic-of-low-health-literacy-makes-covid-19-worse/](https://www.mdatl.com/2020/04/silent-killer-epidemic-of-low-health-literacy-makes-covid-19-worse/)3 - [https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insights/health/hidden-cost-healthcare-system-complexity](https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insights/health/hidden-cost-healthcare-system-complexity)4 The information and materials herein are provided for general information purposes only and are not intended to constitute legal or other advice or opinions on any specific matters and are not intended to replace the advice of a qualified attorney, plan provider or other professional advisor. This information has been taken from sources believed to be reliable, but there is no guarantee as to its accuracy. This communication does not constitute a legal opinion and should not be relied upon for any purpose other than its intended educational purpose. ### Contact us to learn more or request a quote [ Contact us ](https://www.nonstophealth.com/contact-us) ![logo2](https://blog.nonstophealth.com/hubfs/2022-nonstop/images/logo2.svg "logo2") ###### Outcomes ###### Resources ###### About Us ###### Support ###### Log In ###### Contact Us [877-626-6057](tel:+18776266057) [info@nonstophealth.com](mailto:info@nonstophealth.com) ![IBA-Top-Insurance-Employers-2023-02](https://blog.nonstophealth.com/hs-fs/hubfs/2024%20Nonstop/images/IBA-Top-Insurance-Employers-2023-02.png?width=200&height=200&name=IBA-Top-Insurance-Employers-2023-02.png "IBA-Top-Insurance-Employers-2023-02") ![ISO 27001-2022 Certified](https://blog.nonstophealth.com/hs-fs/hubfs/2025-nonstop/images/ISO-TMP-06-20250909-v2.0-27001-2022-monochrome.png?width=200&name=ISO-TMP-06-20250909-v2.0-27001-2022-monochrome.png "ISO 27001-2022 Certified") [**](https://www.facebook.com/nonstopadministration) [**](https://www.linkedin.com/company/nonstophealth/) © Copyright 2026 Nonstop Administration and Insurance Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved. [Terms & Conditions](https://www.nonstophealth.com/terms) [Privacy Policy](https://www.nonstophealth.com/privacy) ![](https://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/conversion/956372538/?label=3qxXCITJiXMQuqyEyAM&guid=ON&script=0) ![](https://d.adroll.com/ipixel/PMCH667P6NEXHJHIEDXH37/J3M7OAWEBZCXTPRCQNT4HP?name=914ca9da) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Nonstop Wellness", "url" : "https://blog.nonstophealth.com/author/nonstop-wellness" }, "dateModified" : "2020-07-13T15:14:25.696Z", "datePublished" : "2020-07-13T15:12:06.000Z", "headline" : "How Healthcare Literacy Can Save Lives During the COVID-19 Pandemic", "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://blog.nonstophealth.com/how-healthcare-literacy-can-save-lives-during-the-covid-19-pandemic", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://blog.nonstophealth.com/hubfs/Logos%20and%20Icons/NonstopHealth_Logo_wTag-22-Horizontal%20(1).png" }, "name" : "Nonstop" } } ```