Supporters of health care reform are ready for the challenge of defending it during the coming year, but they are entering the public relations battlefield of 2011 with a handicap.

As the Washington Post recently pointed out, supporters are saddled with with the law’s unwieldy title, “The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.” The legislation is already providing new protection to many consumers, but it’s hard to rally support for an acronym like “PPAC.”

Opponents countered by coining the term “Obamacare,” implying that it will impose a costly, bureaucratic boondoggle on American medicine.

It’s the kind of sneering label that conservative partisans like, but they can’t laugh off the need for reform. The real boondoggle is the system we have been suffering under. Rising health care costs and insurance premiums continue to reduce the number of Americans with health insurance. The inevitable bankruptcies and untreated illnesses  are problems that the Affordable Care Act was enacted to address.

The legislation may need some work, but it has already barred insurance companies from rescinding coverage when patients become sick, and from setting maximum dollar limits on coverage benefits. Young people can remain covered by their parents’ health insurance until they turn 26, and those caught by the “doughnut hole” in Medicare drug coverage are eligible for discounts.

As the public relations battle unfolds, consumers are likely to realize that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is an improvement. Let’s just call the new system what it is: “health care reform.”

— Questions? Comments? Contact Managing Editor Nick Cowenhoven at nickc@journaltribune.com.