NEWS RELEASE

March 17, 2010
PR-10/12
For additional information:
Jason Hammersla
202-289-6700

Health care reform must be done right

Proper approach supports voluntary employer-sponsored benefits system

WASHINGTON, DC — “While others focus on the politics and process surrounding health care reform, the American Benefits Council is focused on making crucial improvements to the legislation if it is to become law,” Council President James A. Klein said. “Health care reform should only be done if it can be done right.”

The Council has issued a list of priority concerns for employers in reform legislation, supporting the central principles for maintaining the employer-sponsored benefits system that covers hundreds of millions of American workers.

“Paramount among our concerns is the preservation of the federal ERISA framework, which provides a national standard for employer-sponsored health plans. The president and Democrats and Republicans in Congress are right to see this as a national issue; any changes to the health system must not come at the expense of ERISA’s critical preemption standards and the millions of people who rely on their employers for health care coverage,” Klein said.

Additional, important modifications can still be made to the legislation, including:

• eliminating the provision that would change the tax treatment for employers that receive a retiree drug subsidies for maintaining prescription drug benefits for their Medicare-eligible retirees (see the Council's March 16 News Advisory);
• clarification of the availability of health savings accounts;
• improving tax equity for domestic partners; and
• revising the bills’ effective dates to create a more sensible implementation timeline (See the March 9 News Release issued by a coalition of business groups).

To arrange an interview with Council staff, please contact Jason Hammersla, Council director of communications, at 202-289-6700 (office) or (202) 253-5458 (cell).

The American Benefits Council is the national trade association for companies concerned about federal legislation and regulations affecting all aspects of the employee benefits system. The Council's members represent the entire spectrum of the private employee benefits community and either sponsor directly or administer retirement and health plans covering more than 100 million Americans.