Health Care Reform

Message Points

Support repeal of the employer mandate and health insurance tax. Cosponsor House and Senate repeal bills.
H.R. 1744 – Rep. Boustany (R-LA) – Employer Mandate Penalties Repeal – Referred to House Committee on Ways and Means. 210 cosponsors.
S. 20 – Sen. Hatch (R-UT) – Employer Mandate Penalties Repeal – Referred to Senate Finance Committee. 39 cosponsors.
H.R. 1370 – Rep. Boustany (R-LA) – Repeal Health Insurance Tax – Referred to House Committee on Ways and Means. 129 cosponsors.
S. 1880 – Sen. Barrasso (R-WY) – Repeal Health Insurance Tax – Referred to Senate Finance Committee. 10 cosponsors.
The proposed tax on health insurance providers will inevitably pass through to the purchaser of coverage, whether employer or individuals.

Issue

Health care reform failed to address the rising cost of coverage and

increasingly threatens to greatly complicate the administration of benefits.
The Supreme Court of the United States is expected to rule in late June,
perhaps to invalidate the individual mandate, associated provisions, or leave the law intact. Work to soften the impact of implementation continues.

Background

NRF opposed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Laws 111-148 & 111-152) because it is not effectively targeted at rising health coverage costs and it imposes punitive mandates on employers who either do not provide coverage or provide coverage deemed unaffordable to their full-time employees.

Larger employers (50 or more full-time equivalents defined as working 30
or more hours per week) will be penalized for failure to provide coverage
for full-time employees in 2014 and after. Employers can also be penalized
for coverage whose cost exceeds a family income threshold. It may
be cheaper for many retailers to accept the fixed cost of the employer

mandate than provide more generous coverage mandated under reform.

The retail industry is highly sensitive to rising labor costs, of which health
care coverage is the biggest offender. The new health law will increase
the cost of jobs in our recovering economy, driving up unemployment
and further discouraging consumer spending. NRF will work to repeal or
drastically change the health reform law while also working to improve

regulatory proposals to implement it.