The publishers of Employee Benefit Adviser are considering formation of online collaborations around specific aspects of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and its regulatory implementation. The aim is to provide forums through which benefit decision makers and advisers can share news and information, pool resources and learn from peer experience.

“Anyone who participated in study groups in college will recall that they were an efficient means of surviving a particularly difficult class or test,” explains Benefit Group Editorial Director David Albertson. “The benefits industry will face no greater test over the next decade than implementation of health care reform. The grade given us by senior management and employees will surely be a failing mark if we do not take every opportunity to learn from each other about the practical impact of reform.”

The groups will be electronic destinations accessible through the new Health Reform channel on the home pages of www.eba.benefitnews.com and www.ebn.benefitnews.com. Through interactive media, participants will be able to read updates on regulatory activity, post comments, share experiences with their plans, pose questions and suggest additional resources for the group. Each group will have a moderator/host — a benefits industry member responsible for monitoring participant contributions and proposing work products. Benefit Group editors may, for example, collect those contributions and compile them as a white paper for dissemination back to members.

“To advance development of these study groups we now need input on the topics of most interest and importance,” Albertson said. “We ask our readers to submit candidates for specific areas of the law to be studied. Our current premise is that there should be multiple groups on tightly focused subjects, such as the impact of ‘affordable coverage’ provisions or evaluating various pay-or-play scenarios.”

To suggest study group topics, please email Albertson at bbsurveyebn@SourceMedia.com. Include as much information as necessary to explain why the topic merits study, and any additional suggestions concerning the groups.