Our nation’s low health literacy is a threat to the health and well-being of Americans and to the health and well-being of the American health care system. Low health literacy adds as much as $58 billion per year to health care costs. More than 90 million Americans cannot adequately understand basic health information.

--Vice Admiral Richard H. Carmona, M.D., M.P.H, FACS
United States Surgeon General
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Pfizer Sixth National Health Literacy Conference
Friday, September 19, 2003
"Health Literacy: Key to Improving American’s Health"
see: http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/news/speeches/healthlit09192003.htm