Posted by ImproveCareNow™ on August 17, 2026
Navigating health insurance shouldn't be a mystery! The NEW Insurance Toolkit was developed by @ICNPatients members, with input from the ImproveCareNow community, to help patients and families better understand the insurance process and their rights and options. Here's Leela's story about coproducing this important new resource!
As I was preparing to go to college, I understood that the clock was ticking closer and closer to the point when I would have to fend for myself. At the same time that I was transitioning from pediatric to adult care - from being considered a kid to being treated like a young adult - I remember feeling like one wrong financial or legal move could somehow land me in jail for tax evasion.
The purpose of the Insurance Toolkit is to make health insurance feel less overwhelming. We wanted to give high school students and young adults a concrete foundation that would help them understand health insurance and advocate for themselves. With that in mind, here are some of the things you'll find in the toolkit:
☂️ a general definition of what insurance is
☂️ overviews of common insurance types and plans, as well as guidance around picking an insurance company
☂️ tips for navigating insurance scenarios, like prior authorizations or appeals
☂️ common insurance terms defined in language that makes sense
☂️ information about patients' rights
Terms and Definitions ℹ️
When Justin and I were first laying out our ideas for the Insurance Toolkit, we knew it made the most sense to begin with the basics and ensure our readers were equipped to understand the rest of the toolkit. So we started by defining insurance, covering types of health insurance, and breaking down common plan types. All the topics and terms were chosen by PAC members based on their experiences and vetted with members of the ICN community. Each definition was written in a clear and simplified way.
Insurance Scenarios 👀
Next, we thought it would be helpful to share some real-world examples. We surveyed PAC members about health insurance situations they had personally encountered and, preserving anonymity, we incorporated those lived experiences into the toolkit. In each scenario, readers are walked through a practical way to approach and think through these confusing insurance tasks. From navigating Pre-Authorizations to Peer-to-Peer Reviews, the toolkit shares detailed examples that readers can refer back to when navigating similar situations.
Picking Insurance Companies 🔎
This section of the Insurance Toolkit is not designed to choose a company for you. Picking an insurance company is a personal decision. We wanted to provide patients with an overview of key considerations, links to sources that PAC members have found useful, and include some bulleted notes that are easy to refer back to. Where possible, we broke information out into simple tables for quick comparison.
Understanding Patients' Rights ✅
In this section, we go over the importance of understanding your rights as a patient and answer some common questions about protected health information (PHI). There is a whole page dedicated to HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), and two pages outlining key rules around patients' rights.
Glossary & Sources 📌
The Insurance Toolkit has a lot of terms that are good for patients to know when it comes to understanding and navigating their insurance journey, so we created a glossary with simple definitions that you can refer back to anytime. In creating this toolkit, we referenced a lot of sources and all of them are listed and linked at the end of the toolkit.
Praise for the Insurance Toolkit 👏
"Such a great toolkit! Thank you PAC for creating this important resource!" - Becky Johnson Rescola, ImproveCareNow
"Many thanks to PAC for making the Insurance Toolkit. Our case managers, social worker, and nurses expressed a great deal of excitement about it. The whole medication process is just so confusing for patients and families, especially when they are new." - Jenny W, CHOA