Foundation Releases Guide for ACA Communications

The online guide, “Explaining the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to Your Workers: A How-To Guide,” includes a top 10 list of tips for educating employees, a glossary of ACA-specific terms, a timeline detailing the implementation of the law and a fact sheet about what ACA means for employees.

“People still have a lot of questions regarding the Affordable Care Act and many are concerned about how it might affect their benefits,” said International Foundation Research Director, Julie Stich. “Now that open enrollment for the health care exchanges is available, we wanted to provide employers with a resource that they can use when having conversations with their employees on what to expect as they implement ACA within their organization.”

The guide also allows employers to:

• Explain ACA simply and concisely. The law and its regulatory guidance are far-reaching, complicated and lengthy, so the guide recommends employers stick to the basics when communicating with participants.
• Focus on the most immediate changes. Cover what is happening during open enrollment and what changes are coming in 2014.
• Focus on the areas that most impact employees.
• Clarify that your workers do not need to purchase health insurance through the public exchanges. Most employers are maintaining their coverage. But if an employer is dropping coverage for some or all employees, that employer needs to be explicit in the steps their employees need to take.

The guide is available to the public here.