Thursday, November 19, 2009

I believe that we are living in unprecedented times. Those of us in HR are faced and have been faced with many significant challenges and are now faced with the real possibility of some form of mandated national health care policy. With the debate in the House over, all that is left to be seen is the outcome of the pending vote before the Senate. I entered HR long after ERISA was passed so I can only image the debate that occurred as that historic legislation was being argued. Whether you agree or disagree on the national health care policy unfolding, you must admit that it is truly a historic event. It is hard to image that the insurance and healthcare industries will look the same in 10 years as they do today. This legislation will impact virtually every American employer and their workers and should be seen in the bright light of other social enactments that have preceded it.

While the volume and lack of details are to be found or not found in the pages of the legislation, it will fall to various departments of several Federal agencies to write the regulations to actually implement this experiment. Even with a scheduled implementation spread over many years, the challenge HR professionals face is how to help our organizations cope with such massive cultural, social, and economic changes.

Having helped one organization through the implementation of The 2006 Massachusetts Health Care Reform Law, I see many similarities to the national health care policy that every employer and citizen is now facing. If the past is any predictor of the future, our Government will need some process to “certify” that employers and citizens are complying with this new national policy. For me, that means new reports or amended reports (IRS 5500’s) for annual health care plan filings.

As an HR professional, I should begin thinking about how this will or will not impact my organization(s).