On March 24th President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, a historic overhaul of the nation’s health care system.  The world knows about it.  Everyone is talking about it.  Yet, too many companies are saying nothing to their employees about it.

This is a problem because now that the bill has been signed into law, employees are wondering what it means for them and what it means for their companies.  What will happen to our benefits?  Will our out-of-pocket costs go up?  What if we work in health insurance or health care – how secure is our future?  The more these questions are left unaddressed, the more they amount to distractions and anxiety in the workplace.

Larry Turner, CEO of Roundhouse Advisors, points out that “employees will fill any void of information with their own assessment of the situation.” When company leaders aren’t communicating, employees often come to the conclusion that management has no idea what they are doing.

As I’ve discussed in previous posts, it is essential to ease employee anxiety by increasing communication.  So how do you communicate to employees when you don’t have all of the answers?  John Cowan, Editor at Ragan Communications, suggests:

This advice echoes that of change communication experts, TJ and Sandar Larkin, who once wrote: “When you can’t make promises, communicate possibilities and probabilities.”

Recently, Jennifer Benz, Chief Strategist and Founder of Benz Communication developed a terrific (free!) template to use when communicating about health reform. If you are a leader, communication specialist, or HR professional I urge you to use this template today to start blogging, emailing, and talking with your employees.

For more on the topic, check out:

• Jennifer Benz’ post:  What to Tell Your Employees About Health Reform
• Larry Turner’s article: Tough Times Requires Greater Employee Communication
• My e-book: Transforming Anxiety into Energy
• My blog post: Increase Communication to Ease Employee Anxiety