Poll Finds Need for Public Outreach On Health Coverage Options

Just months from health reform’s coverage enrollment and insurance requirement, millions of Americans don’t know very much about the Affordable Care Act.

• A recent Kaiser Family Foundation survey shows many Americans know little about the ACA or how it will affect them.
• Part of the reason may be that critical parts of the law — state exchanges, whether Medicaid will be expanded in a given state, which insurers will offer plans in a state, what those plans will cover or cost — remain undetermined.
• But the poll reinforces a larger point:  If health reform is going to work, it will take a full-court press of community outreach to inform the public about the changes coming very soon.
• The uninsured stand in the most need of valid, accurate information.

The Kaiser poll finds there’s a long way to go to make the public aware of how the health law will work and how it affects the average American family.

• Around half of the American public reports they lack enough information to know how the ACA will affect their family.
• A majority — 58 percent — of those without health coverage doesn’t have enough information to understand the law’s effects on them.
• Almost six out of ten are aware health reform is still law and being implemented.  But only 42 percent of low-income families know that the ACA remains law, and only half of young adults.
• The Healthcare Leadership Council has demonstrated, in its prior Health Access America initiative, that repeated contact at the local level utilizing respected, credible sources is essential to advise Americans on the value of having health insurance coverage.

News media and talking with family and friends provide most Americans with their information about the healthcare law.  There’s not any broad outreach so far to help inform people of the coming health law.

• Most people have learned what they know about health reform from personal conversations, newspapers, radio, online or from cable TV news.
• Speaking with people they know and trust has been the number one information source.  But newspapers, radio and online news barely edge conversations as their “most important” source.
• Private sector healthcare and employers haven’t been a major source for most people.  And the government has played a negligible role.
• There are instructive lessons to be found in the rollout of the Medicare Part D prescription drug program.  Organizations like the Healthcare Leadership Council, and its Medicare Today initiative involving hundreds of national and local organizations, activated grassroots networks to provide information about the new program and address concerns and misinformation.  This “retail” outreach was highly successful in linking seniors with affordable drug coverage.

The health law’s major parts take effect in January.  They’ll bring profound changes for many Americans, including a new way to buy coverage and potential new tax liability.  There remain far too many unanswered questions.  Broad outreach giving accurate, unbiased information is desperately needed so Americans don’t fall through the cracks.