How to Establish Reading Level

290.3 - How to Establish Reading Level (Rev. 1274, Issued: 06-29-07, Effective: 07-01-07, Implementation: 10-01-07) The MMA requires that appeals correspondence be written in a manner calculated to be understood by beneficiaries. MACs shall write appeals correspondence that is understandable to beneficiaries. The purpose of this section is to provide some guidance to MACs on writing letters that are easy for beneficiaries to understand. To achieve this goal, MACs shall: (1) Write in plain English/plain language with a clear, simple, conversational writing style with good communication of key points. (2) Get reading levels of letters as low as you can without losing important content or distorting the meaning and without sounding condescending to the reader. NOTE: This requirement does not apply to providers. MACs can use a cover sheet for the beneficiary, when sending a copy of the decision.