Partnership for Employer-Sponsored Coverage launches to protect employee benefits
WASHINGTON, DC (March 20, 2018): Leading employer organizations announced today the formation of the Partnership for Employer-Sponsored Coverage (P4ESC), an advocacy alliance to strengthen and protect employment-based health coverage, which insures the lives of over 178 million American workers and their families.
P4ESC will champion solutions to protect these benefits for hardworking Americans from threats, whether in the form of ill-conceived changes to the tax treatment of employer-sponsored coverage or attempts to enact single-payer health care.
"Employer-sponsored insurance has been the bedrock of our nation's healthcare system for decades. Lawmakers must continue to resist the temptation to impose new taxes on employer-sponsored benefits," stated Janet Trautwein, CEO, the National Association of Health Underwriters. “With its mission, the Partnership for Employer-Sponsored Coverage is giving employees and employers a powerful voice in Washington. We look forward to working together to protect this vital pathway to health care access,” said Jim Anderson, Vice President, the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors.
The coalition’s efforts will build upon a track record of results-driven policy campaigns that saw among others: the delayed implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) employer mandate, codification of flexible operation policies in employer compliance rules, and introduction of bipartisan legislation to reform the law’s full-time definition and reporting requirements.
P4ESC will tackle areas of employee health advocacy including care quality, provider consolidation, rising costs, and health system innovations in conjunction with educational efforts on Capitol Hill and in federal departments and agencies. “Benefits offerings in the employer-sponsored system are as diverse as employers themselves. The Partnership will serve both as a resource for educating policymakers and their staff about the value of employment-based coverage and as an advocate on behalf of our employees and employers,” said P4ESC Executive Director Christine Pollack.
“Employers do care about the cost of coverage, but more importantly, employers care about the quality of coverage offered to our employees and their dependents,” said Neil Trautwein, Vice President, the National Retail Federation. Toby Malara, Government Affairs Counsel with the American Staffing Association, added “As an umbrella advocacy and policy development alliance for employees and employers of businesses of all sizes, the Partnership for Employer-Sponsored Coverage is poised to make a positive impact in the lives of the 178 million workers and their families who are counting on its success.”
Ahead of its formal launch, P4ESC issued an endorsement letter for bipartisan legislation to ease ACA reporting requirements and threw its support behind legislation expanding benefit flexibility under Health Savings Accounts (HSAs).
“The Society for Human Resource Management believes legislation must support and strengthen the employer-based health care system. The Partnership for Employer-Sponsored Coverage advocates to ensure that employer-sponsored health benefits remain a viable, affordable option for employers and employees alike,” said Chatrane Birbal, Senior Advisor of Government Relations, the Society for Human Resource Management.
P4ESC boasts a membership roster of a dozen leading employment groups and counting, including: The American Hotel & Lodging Association, American Staffing Association, American Rental Association, Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc., Auto Care Association, International Franchise Association, National Association of Health Underwriters, National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors, National Retail Federation, Retail Industry Leaders Association, Society of American Florists, and Society for Human Resource Management.
See additional quotes from P4ESC members here.