NRF asks for healthcare reform delay

Washington, D.C. – Neil Trautwein, VP and employee benefits policy counsel of the National Retail Federation, told a congressional panel today that retail and chain restaurant companies continue to have serious concerns about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and remain worried by the quickly approaching deadlines for full healthcare reform implementation, anticipated for January 2014.

“Our nation — particularly employers — cannot afford for the ACA to stumble out of the starting gate,” Trautwein said 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 present the NRF’s view that Congress should mitigate the potentially adverse impact of the ACA on retailers 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.