Affected by ACA Upheaval? Keep Calm and Be Helpful
On Thursday, after weeks of complaints from citizens, President Obama offered what he was calling “a fix” for canceled health plans. More specifically, he said that individuals would be able to keep their existing health insurance for another year. At the same time, he said that each state would be responsible for deciding which, if any, insurance plans the extension would apply to. It made the whole “fix” as clear as mud and, as you can imagine, created lots of controversy and confusion. “Un-cancelling” insurance plans this late in the game is a difficult, if not insurmountable, task for states and insurers alike.
The “fix” was only the latest development in what has been – by all accounts – a rocky rollout of healthcare reform, including most infamously at this point, what CNN has called the “Obamacare website woes.” Even when political difficulties and technical glitches related to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) are put in context (“enrollment was slow when Massachusetts did this, too”), there’s little solace for those worried about their insurance coverage right now.
Understandably, these consumers want answers, and they’re taking their concerns directly to insurers. One of the problems is that the changing rules make it difficult for health plans to know the answers, as well (see, for example, the recent press release on Obama’s fix from America’s Health Insurance Plans).
It’s not only a corporate/policy conundrum; it’s a health care marketing challenge, too. The rules keep changing, which impacts the products health plans can sell. It confuses, frustrates and unnerves consumers. So what’s the best approach for insurers?
While news sound bites focus on the disasters and the chaos and while health plan leaders work feverishly (behind the scenes) to understand and respond to the changes, perhaps the best thing health plans can do is reassure customers. Is that possible before everything’s clear and in place? Yes. We love, for example, what MVP Health Care (client) posted on its Facebook page Thursday:
It’s a great approach: to be a stable, calming presence. In the simple post, MVP acknowledges its customers’ questions and pledges to help them. It reassures customers that it is working on their behalf and that it will share information as soon as it can.
The big picture (the long view) is that healthcare reform is here. It is happening. When everything shakes out, what’s going to matter as much as the details is consumer awareness of whom they can trust and rely on.
