Whereas health literacy is the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions; Whereas, based on a national assessment, a majority of adults have intermediate health literacy, while more than 75 million adults had basic or below basic health literacy; Whereas mental health literacy is defined as knowledge and beliefs about mental disorders that aid in their recognition, management, or prevention; Whereas good mental health literacy may lead to better outcomes for those with mental disorders, particularly those with suicidal ideation, either by facilitating early help-seeking or by helping others identify early signs of mental disorders and seek help on behalf of another; Whereas language differences, cultural barriers, and low health literacy have been described as a triple threat to effective health communication between providers and patients that could harm the delivery of quality care for communities of color; Whereas, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, low health literacy is consistently associated with increased hospitalizations, greater emergency care use, lower use of mammography, lower receipt of influenza vaccine, poorer ability to demonstrate taking medications appropriately, poorer ability to interpret labels and health messages, and, among seniors, poorer overall health status and higher mortality; Whereas experts estimate that the cost of low health literacy to the United States economy is between $106 billion to $238 billion annually; Whereas, when health literacy is measured, it has been shown that— (1) individuals with low health literacy scores had higher rates of diabetes, obesity, and high blood pressure