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Press Release: The National Retail Federation (NRF) told a congressional panel today that retail and chain restaurant companies continue to have serious concerns about the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and remain worried by the quickly approaching deadlines for full health care reform implementation, anticipated for January 2014.
“Our nation – particularly employers – cannot afford for the ACA to stumble out of the starting gate,” said NRF's vice president and employee benefits policy counsel Neil Trautwein in prepared testimony. “We fear that as time diminishes between now and January 2014, a cascade of additional last minute regulations will create added confusion and thus could encourage more employers to back out of coverage.”
Trautwein is scheduled to testify before a hearing of the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on oversight and investigations on the “Challenges Facing America’s Businesses Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.” There he will share NRF’s contention that Congress should mitigate the adverse impact of the ACA by redefining full-time coverage eligibility to 40 hours, and reiterate NRF’s call on Congress and the administration to delay ACA implementation for up to one year.
“NRF strongly supports efforts to redefine full-time coverage eligibility at 40 hours per week, hopefully with flexibility for employers to define a lower standard, if they so desire,” Trautwein testified. “We respectfully urge that this and other steps to help soften the impact on employers be taken before the ACA is fully implemented.”
While NRF has consistently opposed the ACA, it has also engaged in robust discussions with the administration, federal regulators, and Congress on the unique ACA-specific challenges confronting the retail and chain restaurant industries. Similarly, NRF initiated a concerted effort to educate and engage its broad-based membership and other stakeholders on the law’s many requirements, restrictions, provisions and penalties.
“NRF stands ready to help the administration and Congress make the ACA more workable, so long as it remains the law of this land,” Trautwein said.
As the world’s largest retail trade association and the voice of retail worldwide, NRF represents retailers of all types and sizes, including chain restaurants and industry partners, from the United States and more than 45 countries abroad. Retailers operate more than 3.6 million U.S. establishments that support one in four U.S. jobs – 42 million working Americans. Contributing $2.5 trillion to annual GDP, retail is a daily barometer for the nation’s economy. NRF’s This is Retail campaign highlights the industry’s opportunities for life-long careers, how retailers strengthen communities, and the critical role that retail plays in driving innovation. www.nrf.com
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