The Honorable John Boehner
Speaker
United States House of Representatives
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Minority Leader
United States House of Representatives
The Honorable Mitch McConnell
Majority Leader
United States Senate
The Honorable Harry Reid
Minority Leader
United States Senate
The Honorable Kevin McCarthy
Majority Leader
United States House of Representatives
The Honorable Steny Hoyer
Minority Whip
United States House of Representatives
The Honorable Orrin Hatch
Chairman
Senate Committee on Finance
The Honorable Ron Wyden
Ranking Member
Senate Committee on Finance
The Honorable Lamar Alexander
Chairman
Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
The Honorable Patty Murray
Ranking Member
Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
The Honorable Fred Upton
Chairman
House Committee on Energy and Commerce
The Honorable Frank Pallone
Ranking Member
House Committee on Energy and Commerce
The Honorable Paul Ryan
Chairman
House Committee on Ways and Means
The Honorable Sander M. Levin
Ranking Member
House Committee on Ways and Means
The Honorable John Kline
House Committee on Education and the Workforce
The Honorable Robert C. Scott
House Committee on Education and the Workforce
Dear Mr. Speaker, Senators and Representatives:
The ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC) represents the country’s largest employers on their health and retirement public policy priorities. We are writing to share our concerns with the Affordable Care Act and any legislation developed pursuant to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in the King v Burwell case.
American business cannot operate without legal and regulatory stability. Businesses need and want consistency and certainty in the market so they can plan for their company’s future and maintain appropriate health coverage for employees and their families from one year to the next.
We support the uniformity of common employee benefit rules and policies across the country, as our members operate and provide benefits to their employees in all 50 states. Federal ERISA preemption allows employers with self-insured plans to follow a single set of rules rather than a myriad of state and local regulations when providing health and retirement benefits to employees across the country. ERIC members rely on ERISA preemption, and we encourage Congress to avoid adopting rules that could force employers operating in multiple states to follow individual state mandates, reporting requirements or other regulations.
Regardless of how the Supreme Court rules in the King v Burwell case, we urge Congress to move forward with legislation to repeal the mandates, taxes and reporting requirements imposed by the ACA. Specifically, we ask that Congress repeal the 40 percent health care excise tax, the employer mandate and all the related reporting requirements. These measures cause employers to devote costly resources to unnecessary compliance burdens and taxes, funds that are better spent on benefits for employees and other critical business needs.
If the Supreme Court decision affects the availability of subsidies for individuals to purchase health insurance on federal exchanges, there will be upheaval in the insurance marketplace. This upheaval will cause instability in the insurance marketplace, which will quickly impact employer-sponsored health care.
To stabilize the marketplace we urge Congress to temporarily extend the health care subsidies, while simultaneously acting to repeal the employer mandate, the 40 percent health care excise tax, and related reporting requirements imposed by the ACA. These actions will stabilize the marketplace and avoid the confusion and turmoil that would transfer to employer plans. Repealing the 40 percent health care excise tax, the employer mandate and all the related reporting requirements is needed because these rules are unnecessary and burdensome, and do not improve the cost or quality of care.
ERIC advocates solely for the large employer perspective on health, retirement and compensation policy — the companies actually providing the benefits to their employees and families. Our membership is comprised of the country’s largest and most prestigious companies representing every sector of the economy. ERIC members provide health and retirement benefits to millions of workers, retirees and families living in every city and county in the country. They have been providing health care to their employees long before the ACA, but nevertheless are burdened with the law’s unnecessary and costly taxes and regulations.
We look forward to working with you to craft legislation that allows large employers to continue providing health benefits without the needless and expensive taxes, mandates or reporting requirements.
Respectfully,
Annette Guarisco Fildes
President & CEO