“Escalating health care costs are job killers, forcing manufacturers to pay more premiums rather than investing in their business and creating jobs,” said NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons in astatement. “From the day it was passed, the Affordable Care Act did nothing to bring down health care costs, and it is essential that Congress repeal the law and replace it with reform that benefits manufacturers and their employees.”
President Obama signed the ACA into law on March 30, 2010. The ACA places unnecessary major burdens on manufacturers in the United States, making it difficult to compete in the global economy. The health care law raises costs that manufacturers cannot afford through industry-specific fees, tax increases, including the expansion of the Medicare hospital insurance tax and excise taxes on health insurance plans, limits on flexible spending accounts and burdensome mandates without addressing the rising cost of health care.
The NAM held a teleconference on Thursday with nearly 400 manufacturers, outlining what the ruling means for manufacturers and their employees. The House will vote on legislation to repeal the law the week of July 9.
Being able to provide affordable, voluntary health care is imperative for manufacturers, but the ACA provides the opposite. Ninety-seven percent of NAM members offer health benefits to their employees, but rising health care costs cripple job growth and investment in new technologies.
To drive down health care in the long term and extend coverage, manufacturers need health care reform that focuses on issues such as preventative care and proper implementation of health information technology. Health care laws must not weaken the voluntary and flexible employer-based system that provides coverage to hundreds of millions of Americans. Manufacturers need a market that allows them to choose from a wide array of health care plan options without burdensome mandates that drive up costs. The current law does none of this.
With today’s ruling, there is much that needs to be done to effectively address escalating health care costs. It’s critical that Congress acts to institute more efficient, less costly health care reforms. The NAM will continue to urge Congress to implement health care provisions that do not hinder manufacturing job creation and growth. With unemployment hovering between 8 and 9 percent, this is not the right time to continue to place burdens on America’s job creators. The NAM remains committed to reducing soaring costs, improving the efficiency of the current system and enhancing the quality of care. The NAM will continue to urge Congress to repeal the law.
“We will continue to push Congress to implement legal liability reform, enhance competition by allowing insurance to be purchased across state lines and increase the focus on preventive medicine—actions that would address the high health care costs that harm manufacturers across the United States. Washington must work for manufacturing to ensure that health care costs aren’t a roadblock for job creation and economic growth,” said Timmons.
Details: Christine Scullion, (202) 637-3133.
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