What Should You Tell Employees about Health Care Reform?
February 2010
No one can say with certainty how health care reform legislation will affect health benefits offered by employers. It’s too early to tell which provisions making the rounds on Capitol Hill will ultimately become law—or collapse altogether. After the election of Scott Brown to the Senate (Mass, R), many speculate that no legislation will pass this year at all.
But health care is in too much of a crisis and too pressing to be pushed completely off the table. And though the path is stalled for now, employees still have questions about potential fallout.
Based on the provisions currently in the House and Senate bills, you may want to draft emails or memos that explain:
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The outlook for legislation to pass. Keep employees up to date on the latest news as soon as you have it.
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How your organization’s benefits might change, including possible scenarios.
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Where to find trustworthy online resources. There is a plethora of misinformation about health care reform. For example, some of those opposed to major reform like to conjure up images of rationed care and continue to perpetuate the myth that the House’s legislation ensures that illegal immigrants will be covered under government-run health care programs. Help employees educate themselves about the facts of health care reform by listing trustworthy online resources, such as the side-by-side comparison of the proposals in Congress provided by the Kaiser Family Foundation at www.kff.org/healthreform/sidebyside.cfm.
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The resources available through your organization to help employees stay healthy and hold down their health care costs, such as preventive care benefits, health care flexible spending accounts, and wellness programs.
This may be the right time to leverage social media to get messages out quickly and cheaply and to find out what’s on employees’ minds. For example, you could set up a blog focused on health care reform, a discussion board, or any other two-way channel.