The deadlines are rapidly approaching for employers to let employees know what they’re going to experience under health care reform.
The Department of Labor issued a ruling last month requiring employers to provide employees with a notice of insurance coverage options available through the future health insurance exchanges by Oct. 1.
A recent Aflac survey referenced by Employee Benefit News has some particularly disheartening news about where health care reform education sits on the list of priorities for companies as the deadline approaches.
“(75 percent) of employees said they think their employer will educate them about changes to their health care coverage as a result of health care reform, yet only 13% of employers said educating employees about reform was important to their organization.”
Does this mean businesses don’t care about their workers? Of course not. Our extensive experience working with consultants with a detailed knowledge of health care reform tells us that employers either don’t understand the law or are still paralyzed by all the decisions they have to make related to it.
If they are looking for the mainstream media to assist them in their learning process, then that’s not going to help much either. A new article by Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation President and Chief Executive Officer Drew Altman discusses the challenges media are having understanding the complexities of the law themselves.
For several reasons (paraphrased below), Altman believes covering the Affordable Care Act (ACA) could be as hard as implementing it.
1. Health care reform is no longer simply a Washington, D.C., story
2. Breaking news doesn’t allow for enough time to gather proper statistical support
3. New rules and regulations announced on an almost daily basis make it difficult to determine what’s most important
4. Pressure to present “balanced” political opinions rather than the facts adds to the challenge
So who should employers and the media turn to for guidance? Professional service organizations can grow their business by positioning themselves as expert sources for the media and – by extension – businesses in need of health care reform advice. 
Altman’s article clearly demonstrates that the press needs help understanding the ACA to better communicate what’s happening to a general public that polls reveal is still as uninformed about health care reform now as the day it was signed into law.
“It is not always easy to find the facts, and sometimes issues are maddeningly gray in health policy,” Altman writes. “But often the facts are clear in statute or regulations. They are in a government report or a study from a respected organization.”
So who better to break down and convey the facts to the public than the professional service consultants, attorneys, accountants and advisors living with it all day, every day?
And what better place to share their expertise with the widest possible audience than in the media?
WordWrite can assist in that effort. We’re communicating the historic impact of health care reform to our contacts in the news every day. This issue has been a tough sell to reporters, but it begins with an effort to educate and start a dialogue. Our persistence and strong relationships with the media have resulted in placements across the east coast and Midwest.
Knowledge is in short supply when it comes to health care reform, and professional service organizations have it in spades. Let us help you become a conduit to the businesses, companies and executives who drastically need guidance on the ACA before it’s too late.
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Jeremy Church is an account supervisor for WordWrite Communications. He can be reached at jeremy.church@wordwritepr.com and on Twitter @churchjeremy.
