We've been talking about health care reform here for years. In fact, I'm not sure I even remember a time when we didn't.

I'm kidding. I just remember when we discussed it in more academic, theoretical terms – long before this site was around – as in, "Wouldn't it be great if we could do X, Y or Z? And that's opposed to, "How in the hell are we going to deal, with A, B and C? By next month?

And we've talked at length about the mandates and what they mean for small businesses, benefits managers and the brokers they work with. But for the most part, we've overlooked the employees themselves. And these are the ones who will find themselves equally compelled under the law to be covered – whether through you, the employer, or on their own – possibly in their own state health exchanges.