HR Bloggers Silence on Health Care Reform
SHRM and many other sources say that affordable health care is a top issue for United States businesses. We hear about it near constantly in the news, especially as this weekend’s vote approaches. The issue certainly impacts strategic human resource planning.
SHRM has made their position clear.
Yet, what do I hear from the HR blogging world (including myself) about health care reform? Close to nothing. Okay, a few articles here and there, but I have to really look for them. I would expect to see my Google Reader streaming with healthcare reform posts, but it’s not.
Why is that?
Is it because discussion has the potential to become political?
Is it too hard? Too much to wrestle with? Do we think it’s unfixable? Are we out of ideas?
The human resources bloggers, especially the Twitter crowd, are some of the most creative people out there. It’s hard to believe they don’t have opinions and proposed solutions on health care.
And I’d love to hear them! And maybe our elected officials, our respective C-suites, and our friends at SHRM would as well.
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You’re absolutely right, there isn’t alot of conversation going on about health care. I wonder if that’s because it impacts each of us differently. For example, I’m a consultant and I pay for my own health care. So naturally, I’d love to see insurance premiums decrease. But if I were a small business owner, I might feel differently. And, if I were a Fortune 500 company, I might have another view entirely.
.-= Sharlyn Lauby´s last blog ..ERE Expo Day 1: Time for Alignment =-.
Thanks for your comment, Sharlyn. You could be right, although I still wonder why people aren’t talking about how it would affect their sector or business. And I would think all of us, whether unemployed, self-employed, small or large business owners or HR pros–are in favor of affordable health care.
I have strong opinions on the healthcare stuff. I have more things to write about than I do time to write. But I definitely need to say my piece, whatever it may be.
Thanks for the kick in the tush.
.-= Ben Eubanks´s last blog ..Should applying for a job should be difficult? =-.
Krista! Wow, thanks for the shout-out! I have a few more posts to add before my blog series wraps up. Yes, I would love to hear more opinions from Bloggers and HR people. Especially Karla Porter. Let’s here what everyone has to say. A BIG vote is happening Sunday,
Talk soon!
Shennee
Maybe bloggers don’t want to lose readers?
That seems kind of stupid but maybe people see health care reform as a sacred cow that shouldn’t be messed with.
That being said, I have thrown my views out there multiple times on my blog and I am willing to do it more if it leads to a substantial conversation. Even commenters won’t touch it.
.-= Lance Haun´s last blog ..Why You Should Be Screwing Up In Social Media =-.
@Ben, can’t wait to read your post!
@Shennee, as always, thanks for stopping by and taking time to comment!
@Lance, I understand that, I just feel that regardless of one’s politics, whether one is a Republican, Democrat or Independent, as a group the HR community missed a big opportunity here. Not that we won’t have other chances to weigh-in over the years but it won’t be as a proactive/creative voice, it will be reactionary.
Krista,
I wrote about healthcare reform a few weeks ago at my blog http://www.talenttracks.com Granted I focus my search practice in the insurance space so you my viewpoint may not surprise you. My position is that “healthcare” reform is not about controlling cost (bad) but expanding access (good) , Click Here http://tinyurl.com/yzkstto
I believe that the insurance industry has done us all a disservice by not pointing out that controlling the cost of delivering healthcare is the only way to control out of control healthcare premiums.
Jay, thanks for your comment and for sharing your post, which I checked out and liked. Here’s another post I liked by the Gallup organization about their experience reducing health care increases: http://tinyurl.com/yzkstto.
As a relatively small employer, my dilemma is that I can’t get much experience data at all. And if I could, at my organization’s size up to this point we have been community-rated and we have also have minimal flexability to customize our health plan offerings. The advantage of the community rating is that we are shielded from the affects of one or two catastrophic claims; of course one disadvantage is that there is less immediate incentive for small organizations to push wellness, educate employees and move to control costs.
But because there’s less immediate payback doesn’t mean it’s not the right thing to do. As the Gallup article asks, “What if the top one thousand companies in the United States invested the time, effort, and initial investment required to instill the types of cultures and improvements highlighted”? What if the top one thousand *small* or medium-sized companies did the same? What if organizations of all sizes came together to share expertise with the common goal of educating employees about the costs of healthcare, giving employees tools and reasons to lower costs, and encouraging wellness and prevention?
Krista – I hope you don’t mind me sharing my little tale of a very recent and ongoing experience with health care :
http://steveboese.squarespace.com/journal/2010/3/23/missing-the-health-care-debate.html.
I am not sure what the answers are, but I know that eventually health care gets very personal. Great question and challenge to the community.
.-= Steve Boese´s last blog ..Missing the Health Care debate =-.
Steve, thanks for sharing. I hope your dad will make a full and speedy recovery! I agree that the issue is very personal to all of us. Between juggling the politics, the personal and all the various vantage points (provider, carrier, business owner, employee, retiree, unemployed, etc., etc.,) it is no wonder that the debate is far from over.
Krista,
Here is a second post that I created about healthcare reform and how it is going to impact health insurance companies and their employees. http://www.talenttracks.com/2010/03/am-i-going-to-lose-my-job-how-healthcare-reform-will-impact-your-career/
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