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Employers, Health Plans Urge HHS to Keep Essential Health Benefits Affordable
Expansive, Costly Package Would Risk Jobs and Lower Wages

October 25, 2011 (Washington, DC) – Neil Trautwein, chairman of the Essential Health Benefits Coalition and vice president and employee benefits policy counsel at the National Retail Federation, released the following statement today on the Department of Health and Human Services’ open comment session for employers and health plans on an essential health benefits package:

“At a time when job creation is a national priority, it is critical that HHS not develop a costly essential health benefit package that makes it even more difficult for employers to maintain and create jobs.  Higher costs associated with an expansive package would force many employers to reduce their workforces, and other employers to either forgo increasing wages for their workers or hiring new employees.  Some employers may be forced to drop coverage altogether, forcing more Americans into government-subsidized health care.  Neither of these options will improve America’s fragile economy or its fiscal problems.  It is critical that cost and affordability be a primary consideration as HHS develops an essential health benefits package.  HHS should make it easier for employers to offer health coverage to their workers, not make coverage more costly for employers who now offer it and put it farther out of reach for those employers who currently can’t.

The Essential Health Benefits Coalition is a broad-based organization composed of groups representing large and small employers from various sectors of the U.S. economy, pharmacy benefit managers, and health plans operating in nearly every state.  The growing membership of the coalition includes the National Retail Federation, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Federation of Independent Business, National Association of Manufacturers, National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors, National Association of Health Underwriters, Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, Retail Industry Leaders Association, Prime Therapeutics, America’s Health Insurance Plans, Express Scripts, Inc., Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, and American Osteopathic Association.

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