Communications Tips, October 19, 2011

Women on the Verge

Communications Tips for Educating and Engaging Women on the Affordable Care Act

Goal:   To boost support for the Affordable Care Act to a solid majority among women voters and to connect the law with the bigger story/theme of America’s priorities.

Objective: To inform, persuade and mobilize persuadable women and our base.

Topic:   Women are on the verge of gaining an historic win for their health with newly received services and provisions that support prevention, protections, and equity in health care.

Narrative:   With the Affordable Care Act women should let out a collective sigh of relief; finally a law that focuses on women’s health and the importance of prevention, protections, and equity in our health care.  Our health care system has undervalued Middle Americans, especially women and children, in favor of insurance industry’s profits. Now we have consumer protections and services that support women and families—unless extremists get their way and eliminate the law’s benefits and protections.

Proactive Communications Strategies:

• Inform women about the law by using a consumer frame, rather than a political debate format, focusing on the services and provisions that support the prevention, protections, and non-discrimination elements of the ACA. How a woman is affected by the services/provisions is key to her support. Be personal, be specific.
• Use messaging that triggers peace of mind, a sense of control, fairness, and respect.
• Target persuadable populations including: older women (+60), women of color, blue-collar working women, young women (-40), and women who define themselves as Independents. Collaborate with organizations who work with these constituencies.
• Use messages that unite, rather than divide, older and young women. Lead with protections against no denial of coverage for pre-existing conditions, preventive services, and non-discrimination on gender pricing.  Then customize according to age.

1. For older women emphasize Medicare with no co-pays, as well as mammograms and cancer screening as examples of preventive care with no co-pays.
2. For younger women emphasize birth control and prenatal care as examples of preventive care with no co-pays.

• Use passion with strong supporters by highlighting the historic nature of the new law and its impact on women and families. Make them front-line cheerleaders for the law.
• Express outrage. If opponents say repeal/bankrupt the law, remind people: “Extremists want to take away the protections that help Middle-class families and give control back to a greedy insurance industry that denies sick kids care;” or “Insurance companies are charging women more than men for the same policy.”

Messages that Work:

[Broad Prevention] Starting this year, thanks to the Affordable Care Act, all new insurance plans must cover key prevention services, like contraception, well-woman exams, and breast and cervical cancer screenings, which many women have put off or sacrificed because of the cost involved.  This will save thousands of lives every year and bring down costs because it is far more effective to prevent an unintended pregnancy and to detect cancer early.  Covering preventive care as basic health care, including family planning services, contraception, and birth control, is important to good health care for women.

[Secure/Congress with no co-pay]  The Affordable Care Act will provide basic preventive health care and women's health services with no co-pay, and make health care coverage more secure by ensuring that working families can’t be denied coverage due to a pre-existing condition, or lose their coverage or be forced into bankruptcy when someone gets sick.  It also requires that members of Congress get their health coverage from the same plans as millions of Americans.

[Protect Medicare] The Affordable Care Act protects Medicare benefits for seniors and strengthen the program for future generations by aggressively cracking down on waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare, ending handouts to insurance companies, and providing free preventive care with no co-pay, including mammograms and women's health services so that we prevent costly emergency room visits and reduce health care costs in the long-run.

Strategies to Inoculate Against Attacks:

We can anticipate additional attacks on the Affordable Care Act and the recent women’s health care provisions. We win when we approach the issue effectively—and it is best to have pro-active messages that inoculate before the attack is heard. While we recommend a non-political consumer frame when informing women, a political fight must happen simultaneously.

Cost:
Attack by Opposition: Health care costs are too expensive now – adding free birth control and contraceptive will cost too much.
Response: Covering birth control as part of preventive coverage saves families $26 a month, helping families in these tough economic times.

Mandate:
Attack by Opposition: Free contraceptives are just another government mandate and now we have government micro-managing people's health care.
Response: Birth control is basic preventive care because it respects others to make important life decisions and gives people more options over when and whether to have children.

Abortion:
Attack by Opposition: Coverage of so-called contraception services for free is a back door way to have taxpayers pay for abortion-inducing drugs.
Response: Coverage of contraception services with no co-pay helps prevent unintended pregnancies and reduces the need for abortions.