As mid-market employers adapt their health benefit plans to new realities under the health care reform law, developing benefit communication strategies that inform and engage employees is more critical than ever, experts say.

Unfortunately, multiple studies suggest there remains a substantial gap between employers' view of their current health benefit communications and employees' level of satisfaction with those communications.

In a January survey of nearly 1,900 employers and 5,300 employees conducted by Aflac Inc., 64% of midsize employers said they believed they had effectively communicated the value of their health benefit plans to their employees.

However, only 45% of employees said their employers' communication strategies were effective in educating them about their health benefit options, according to Aflac's 2013 WorkForces Report.

With less than six months to go before the onset of key provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, 76% of employees at midsize firms expect their employers to guide them through potential changes to their health care coverage resulting from the reform law, but only 5% of midsize companies said educating their employees about the law was an important issue for their company, Aflac's survey found.

“Health care consumers are really confused and probably overwhelmed by the coming ACA changes and, as a result, a lot of them are making really bad decisions in terms of how they utilize health care,” said Jennifer Benz, founder and CEO of San Francisco-based Benz Communications.

Poorly informed decisions in the selection and utilization of health care benefits — multiplied over time by dozens if not hundreds of workers — could have detrimental effects on the long-term health of employees and/or their dependents, as well as potentially compromise the financial sustainability of the overall benefit program and, perhaps, the company itself.

“If your employees don't understand the benefits that you're offering them, you're wasting the money that you spend on those benefits, and wasting 20% to 30% of your total compensation budget is something that no company can afford to do,” Ms. Benz said. “It's in an employer's best interest to help employees feel confident in making decisions on health care and health insurance, because it ultimately will make those employees more productive in their jobs.”

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Aside from undermining the overall value of their health benefit and wellness plans, deficient benefit communication strategies also can damage an employer's ability to attract and retain top talent in an increasingly competitive hiring environment, experts said.

According to Aflac's 2013 report, 79% of employees said a well-communicated benefits program would make them less likely to leave their current positions, a steep increase from 46% in 2012 and 42% in 2011.

There are a range of actions midsize employers can take to improve the efficacy of their benefit communication strategies, depending on their size, industry and workforce demography (see related story). However employers choose to bolster their communication efforts, experts said it is imperative that those plans be implemented as quickly as possible, given that employee concerns and confusion over health care reform's potential effects on their individual benefits are bound to increase as 2014 draws nearer.

“Employees are already looking for as much information as they can get, and employers — being the plan sponsors — are the logical place for them to turn,” said Craig Johnson, a Philadelphia-based partner at Mercer L.L.C. “Among the clients we work with, we're seeing a steady increase in the number of inquiries employers are getting about the 2014 changes.”

While the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Internal Revenue Service and other federal agencies have yet to finalize several rules and guidance documents pertaining to employers' obligations under the reform law, employers should not wait for all the details to be finalized. Ample opportunities remain for employers to begin a dialogue now with their employees about potential changes to their benefit plans, even if much of the information they seek is not yet available, experts say.

“At least tell them what you do know now, and then clarify that they'll get more information with their enrollment materials later on,” said Ruth Hunt, a Minneapolis-based principal at Buck Consultants L.L.C.

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For example, if employers know already that they plan to provide compliant coverage under the reform law's employer mandate, Ms. Hunt said employers can start by immediately reassuring their employees that their coverage will meet the law's requirements, and therein address questions surrounding eligibility for subsidized coverage through public exchanges.

“If you know you have a decent percentage of low-wage employees that are going to have questions about getting financial aid for health care, you can take that opportunity to spell out how that system will work and explain that most of them won't be eligible for the federal subsidy,” Ms. Hunt said. “As employees begin to learn more about public exchanges, questions are going to begin bubbling up, and HR departments and call centers are going to get all kinds of inquiries that they could probably stave off with a little more proactive communication.”