New Rules Require Better Communication

At a recent WEB meeting (www.webnetwork.org), there were heated discussions around the new Summary of Benefits and Coverage requirements. For those who are unfamiliar with the issue, new regulations were established by the healthcare law signed by President Obama and federal representatives from the House and Senate. One of the regulations requires proper disclosure of all health care plan designs. No, I am not talking about the already enacted SPDs (Summary Plan Descriptions) that are in place today.

This document will be in addition to the plan documents and SPDs. The new requirement is for a summary of the summary, no more than 8 pages with a font size of 12. They didn't mention anything about any requirements for the size of any pictures or graphs. To make matters worse, the fines imposed are fairly substantial and the deadline is looming large (March 23rd, 2012).

Of course, the rules and deadlines may be changed, and this part of the PPACCA may not go into effect until later this year but one thing is very clear. The government is not happy with the delivery of plan designs and specifics and are not going to tolerate it any more. They want clear communications and they want it now!

For most of us, reading through a summary of plan design for a major medical insurance plan is a guarantee cure for insomnia. But the minute that we have a pressing medical need and the plan's narrow ruling of an interpretation of a questionable procedure, we instantly become an ERISA lawyer.

As Americans, we don't like to be told no or denied coverage for every single possible coverage. We don't understand that the decision makers were forced to decided between cutting employees or benefit coverage. We just want our medical claim covered with little or no hassle.

So how do we balance between employees' limited attention span and legal requirements to explain coverage details? I would recommend applying the following four concepts.

1. Put the I in plan language = PLAIN Language - The majority of your workforce are not going to be students of the benefit plans or have a long attention span. Remove the industry terms and overcomplicated words. Focus on short, simple sentences that convey only one idea.  
2. Second Opinions Matter - Writing clearly is not usually something that can be done in one attempt. What appears to the writer as perfectly understandable is often confusing to the reader without context. Ensure that your message is understood by everyone by asking others to review your work. It is very helpful to involve someone who is unfamiliar with you and the subject. You will achieve success if they are able to comprehend the message. 
3. The Oscar goes to ... - Whenever possible, tell a story. People love to hear stories. They relate to and remember stories. Even the most boring of subjects come alive when woven into a powerful and engaging story. 
4. Mixed Messages - Everyone has their preferred learning style. Some prefer to listen to instructions, some read from cover to cover absorbing all the details and others would prefer to watch a video. Your benefits package is one the key drivers of retention and attraction for talent. Don't let your employees make poor assumptions because they only have one option to consume the information. Variety is the spice of life (and benefits). Ensure that you provide as many different ways to communicate the value of the benefits being offered and how they help employees and their loved ones. Have fun with it and try something new. For a great example, check out Jellyvision (www.jellyvision.com)

At the end of the day, your benefits program is an excellent tool. Don't relegate it to the land of legal. Make it a foundation of the total compensation package available to your workforce. 

To learn more about how Businessolver can help you communicate available benefits more effectively with your employees, please contact me at jgallic@businessolver.com or (908) 360-1500.

Businessolver is an elite provider of benefits administration services to organizations with 2,000 - 200,000+ employees. Learn more at www.businesolver.com