Retailers Fight To Repeal Health Care Reform

When the Supreme Court upheld the controversial health care reform two weeks ago, the National Retail Federation (NRF) expressed its intent to redouble its efforts to repeal the Affordable Healthcare Act, better known as ObamaCare. As House Republicans set out to vote on repealing health care reform today, the NRF remains vocal in its disagreement over the law.

The National Retail Federation is the world’s largest retail trade association and the voice of retail worldwide.

In a statement released this morning, NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay commented on today’s House vote to repeal the health care reform law:

“At a time when the economy is still struggling to recover, Congress needs to repeal the health care law before it costs millions of Americans their jobs.

Congress set out to make health care more accessible by making it more affordable. Instead, what we may well get is a perfect storm of unintended consequences that drives up costs so high that many companies likely will be forced to cut back their payrolls or discontinue health care coverage even if it means paying fines. Instead of making health care more available, the Affordable Care Act is likely to cost many workers both their jobs and their health insurance.

It’s time for Congress to go back to work and come up with true bipartisan health care reform that focuses first on reducing costs and addressing the fundamental flaws of our health care system, rather than destroying jobs and penalizing the very employers who today voluntarily pay for health insurance. As an industry that provides health care coverage for millions of American workers and their families, retail will continue to work with lawmakers to achieve that goal.”

The NRF also recently established a special website to help focus its grassroots and political campaign against health care reform.

Retailers believe that the new health care reform law is bad for business because, instead of making health care more affordable, the mandates are too tricky. As the NRF commented in a joint statement with the National Council of Chain Restaurants (NCCR):

“NRF and NCCR believe the mandate on employers is both punitive and anti-growth — and ultimately hazardous to our economy. Efforts to reduce the cost of health coverage are insufficient and the law is too complex to administer.”

Today’s House vote will decide the fate of the retail industry in the United States.

Do you think that the new health care reform law will be detrimental to retailers?