Health Care Reform- Cable News Has A Role

The Kaiser Family Foundation's May Tracking Poll results of consumers might be an indication that emotions are starting to stabilize a little since the health care legislation was enacted a few months ago. The public may be a little less confused, but a solid minority (44%)still remains uncertain with how the legislation is going to impact them personally.

While the general framework of a system redesign may be in place, the health care system is now waiting for the rules to be written to define exactly how all of this is going to work. The country has moved on to other things for now. It’s now up to the health care system to execute whatever rules are written- and hope it all works. Business strategies for all stakeholders are already changing as a result.

While the intense emotions that we witnessed over the past year may not be visible, you can bet they are still there. Health care reform remains a very partisan social issue. Those that supported the reform structure ultimately enacted still do- just not as intense as in the past. Those who have been against the approach still are- and are just as intense in their disapproval as before. This divide will become visible again if any surprises occur. And, you can be sure there will be some surprises along the way.

The rumors and myths of the legislation continue to fly around to further confuse the general public. Recently, a mass e-mail was sent stating that the new legislation required employers to start including the health care contributions they make on the W-2 of each employee- and this contribution would be included as taxable income thus, increasing the taxes for all who receive employer contributions for their health care benefits. The e-mail called for a “call to arms” to all recipients to reject this tax increase and pass it on. The first part of the author’s contention is true- the second part is not. However, the message created quite the stir in the internet world. Such is the world of instant communication with the internet- whether the information is accurate or not.

Kaiser’s May Poll shows most consumers access family and friends, cable TV (Fox, CNN, MSNBC), and the broadcast networks most frequently to obtain their information about health care reform. Cable TV received the highest weighting when determining the “primary” source of health reform information. The slant used by these venues has a significant impact on the consumer’s perceptions of health care reform and ultimately on their desire to engage in the system. Cable news could be a tremendous asset to help consumers become more engaged by sharing fair and accurate information and helping consumers understand, or they could be a tremendous obstacle. Only time will tell what the result will be.

The country has moved on to some of the many other pressing problems we face. Even though the emotions of health care reform may have subsided for the moment, we can’t forget that fixing our health care mess is a very key component to fixing our economy. Engaged consumers are a critical part of the solution. We need to provide them with the tools and information they need to make the informed decisions and become a part of the solution, not drive them further apart.