HR Pros: Make Your Voice Heard in the Healthcare Reform Debate

Healthcare reform has taken center stage in Washington, with Congressional leaders promising to deliver a bill by late July.

As citizens, we should all be taking steps to be fully informed and engaged in this debate.  As HR professionals (particularly as reward professionals), our close proximity to and understanding of health care benefits places us in a critical role relative to this discussion.  With this in mind, I urge you to make your voice heard.

In opening its new online community to the public, WorldatWork has provided with you a key opportunity to do this.  WorldatWork member Paul Weatherhead has taken the initiative to drive this dialogue for the association.  From Paul's open letter to the community.

I have been asked to generate some dialogue on the issue of National Health Care Reform on the Online Community discussion boards.  It seems to me that we are running out of time to influence the public dialogue on this since the Speaker of the House has promised the President that he will get proposed legislation by July.  That leaves us a month and a half to make ourselves heard as an international professional association.

I initiated some thoughts on the "Benefits" section of the discussion boards.  Would you mind sharing your thoughts and concerns on any issues related to national health care reform as well?

Please take time to join this important discussion (note that if you have not yet registered as a member of the WorldatWork online community, you will be asked to do so before accessing the discussion). 

Kudos to Paul for grabbing this bull by the horns and getting the debate going.

Comments

[Paul Weatherhead]

Need a place to collect your thoughts before making your voice heard on national health care reform? Here are a few web sites worth perusing:

 Wikipedia’s surprising good presentation of the topic: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_reform
 “Setting the New HR Agenda” from SHRM (scroll to page 8): http://www.shrm.org/Advocacy/Documents/SHRM_leg-issues_FINAL.pdf
 Center for Health Transformation: http://www.healthtransformation.net/
 “Healthcare that Works: Answering President Obama’s Challenge of Finding What Works” http://www.healthtransformation.net/galleries/default-file/Full%20version%20-%20handout%20and%20best%20practices%201.25.09.pdf

Anybody know of any other concise, fair and balanced discourses focusing on solutions?

After you put your thoughts together, here’s a repeat of where Ann suggested making your voice heard: http://www.worldatwork.org/waw/community/discussions/discuss.jsp?did=7203

[E James (Jim) Brennan]

P.S. You do NOT have to be a dues-paying member of the World At Work total rewards association to participate on its online Community site. It is open to everyone and anyone, as far as I know.

[Ann Bares]

Thanks, Paul, for the additional links and resources. I spent some time reviewing these and others, to get myself up to speed, before adding my thoughts to the WorldatWork discussion. It is an intimidating topic, but one that we must all get our heads around.

Thanks for the clarification, Jim. Yes - this is open to everyone and anyone.