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February 4, 2009

NRF Says Health Care Reform Should Focus on Lowering Costs, Not Employer Mandates

For Immediate Release
Contact: J. Craig Shearman (202) 626-8134
shearmanc@nrf.com

NRF Says Health Care Reform Should Focus on Lowering Costs,
Not Employer Mandates

WASHINGTON, February 4, 2009 – A store owner testifying on behalf of the National Retail Federation told Congress today that efforts to make health care available to everyone should focus on lowering costs rather than mandating that employers provide coverage for their workers.

“We believe we can reach universal coverage – a goal we retailers share – without mandating that employers provide coverage,” Dave Ratner, owner of the four-store Dave’s Soda and Pet City in the Springfield, Mass., area, said. “The problem with employer mandates either to provide coverage or provide specific coverages is that they directly increase the cost of coverage and hence the cost of labor. Higher labor costs mean fewer employees… Who will pay the doctor bills if people don’t have jobs?”

Ratner testified today before the House Small Business Committee during a hearing on “Health Care Reform in a Struggling Economy: What is on the Horizon for Small Businesses?”

“We believe the key to making health coverage more accessible lies in reducing its cost,” Ratner said. “Until we can create better value in health care and coverage, we will never be able to spend enough collectively to expand quality and affordable health coverage to all Americans.”

Rather than mandating that employers provide coverage, Ratner said Congress should consider proposals such as those outlined in the NRF Vision for Health Care Reform, which aims to improve quality, reduce costs, increase access and reform state health insurance regulations that have driven up costs. Lowering costs would allow employers to voluntarily provide coverage for more workers without being mandated to do so, and would make coverage more affordable for those who buy insurance on their own, he said.

Among the proposals in the NRF vision statement is increased availability of cost and quality information about health care providers that would encourage competition by making it easier for patients to shop for the best quality and price.

“My customers know more about the pet products on my shelf that they do about the doctor down the street, and that is not right,” Ratner said. “People should be able to select the best quality care just as they choose between me and my competitors on a daily basis. Competition encourages lower prices and better quality. More and better appropriate competition could do wonders for health care.”

Adopted by the NRF Board of Directors last year, the NRF plan also supports more use of computerized medical records, more wellness programs, better management of chronic conditions, and more pooling mechanisms, among other recommendations.

Ratner said the retail industry is one of the strongest supporters of providing health coverage to workers but that but already high costs are even more difficult to afford in the current economic crisis. Balancing the advantages of keeping employees “healthy and productive” against the costs of insurance is “borderline impossible even in the best of times and these are far away from being the best of times,” he said.

The National Retail Federation is the world's largest retail trade association, with membership that comprises all retail formats and channels of distribution including department, specialty, discount, catalog, Internet, independent stores, chain restaurants, drug stores and grocery stores as well as the industry's key trading partners of retail goods and services. NRF represents an industry with more than 1.6 million U.S. retail establishments, more than 24 million employees - about one in five American workers - and 2008 sales of $4.6 trillion. As the industry umbrella group, NRF also represents more than 100 state, national and international retail associations. www.nrf.com.

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