Any solutions for the "family glitch" glitch that I’ve just run into?

Hi, we got all excited about the upcoming IRS rule change (IRS Notice 2022-41, effective Jan 1, 2023) that is designed to fix the “family glitch” i.e. where employer-sponsored health insurance plans are “affordable” for the employee but not affordable the employee’s family (spouse and kids). I’ve just been informed by my spouse’s employer that the rule change is optional for employers, which is a far cry from all the press I’ve read about this rule change. Even today there are many posts on Twitter from orgs like KFF and others that speak about the rule change “ending the ‘family glitch'” and how “enrollment is happening now.” No, it’s not happening, not for probably most of us. One post did mention the “hurdles” that employees must clear to be eligible but that’s about the most honest one I’ve seen because, yeah, hurdles, indeed.

Has anyone else run into this? Any suggestions? It’s infuriating that they’d create this rule change without making it mandatory for employers. It could save families hundreds IF employers allow their employee’s family members to leave their company plan and join an ACA plan. This is beyond infuriating. Oh, and please, it’s frustrating enough already so please don’t bring politics to this, as the rules of this sub say. Thanks