History

In 2005 Herndon Alliance was established as a coalition of national and state based advocacy, labor, faith, provider, and business groups. The common vision was to reframe the healthcare reform discussion from one that was policy driven to one that is ‘values-based’ and would help a larger portion of the population understand how they could improve affordability and security in their own health care coverage. Our goal was to increase the base of support for healthcare reform leading to quality and affordable health care for all.

What we know is 80% of polled Americans favor major healthcare reform. What we also know is this percentage radically drops to below 30% when a specific policy is introduced. And finally, we know that the vast majority of the voting population is insured.

What we needed to hear was what the public wants.

Two questions needed answering. How do we frame the issue of reform and access to health care to help those who have insurance coverage understand that this is a critical issue for them? And, how do we move the population to create a majority of voters who, even when a policy is introduced, continue to favor healthcare reform?

Phase one of our values-based research and analysis, completed in the fall of 2006, addressed the first question. Phase two of our research and analysis, completed in the fall of 2007, addressed the second question. We learned a great deal from the research conducted by American Environics and the findings from focus groups and national polling conducted and analyzed by Lake Research Partners.

Herndon Alliance has worked to make these finding public on state and national levels. Whether working with our partner organizations to provide briefings to the staff members of presidential primary campaigns, or coordinating with organizations like AARP and SEIU, or training state advocates in messaging, our goal is to make sure that as many people as possible are talking about healthcare reform — together.

We have collaborated with state campaigns and delivered presentations and/or conducted training sessions in more than 20 states. In addition, we have worked with many national organizations to share findings and to engage with them in training their staff and membership.

The four broad findings that informed our work and ultimately also shaped our second year of continued research and narrative refinement included:

    * The importance of framing the discussion around the need for change in the overall health care system and how that change will have a positive impact on the insured, as well as the uninsured and underinsured (rather than beginning the debate around the uninsured or underinsured).

    * The importance of framing the discussion around America’s legacy—our success at rising to challenges, our ingenuity for problem solving, our history of innovative and progressive reform to make the American dream a reality.

    * The need to understand and respond to barriers identified including: FEAR  (of loss of control: loss of current coverage; change; higher costs with lower quality of care); blocked altruism caused by fear; opposition to helping those perceived as undeserving; who is going to pay for reforms; and cynicism about government.

    * The need to engage small business in the discussion.

The Herndon Alliance’s second round of research and analysis addressed barriers to guaranteeing access to quality affordable health care for all, defined what guarantees, affordability and choice actually mean to the public, and tested responses to attacks we can expect. The results provide specific and useful content as to what the public wants, as well as how to move the dialogue forward.

This content is shared with our partner organizations and those advocates and health care policy experts who are actively involved with health care reform. In addition, the Herndon Alliance has created communications materials, which can assist organizations in implementing these findings in their work.