Hospital Paperwork Reduces Man's Reading Comprehension To First-Grade Level

HOUSTON—The frustrating paperwork for a routine visit to St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital reduced Kenneth Anderson’s reading comprehension to a first-grade level Monday, forcing the 39-year-old sales associate to slowly sound out each syllable and use his finger to follow along with the words. “Man, this stuff is really hard,” said Anderson, on the verge of a reading-related tantrum for the first time since struggling with Frog And Toad Are Friends at age 6. “’Pro-phy-lax-is’…. What does that even mean?” Anderson’s math skills also plummeted as he strained to figure out how the number on his hospital bill could be so high.