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Founded in 1920, Miller & Chevalier Chartered is a leading Washington law firm with more than 100 lawyers who practice in the areas of benefits, including federal health care programs.
American Benefits Council is the national trade association for companies concerned about federal legislation and regulations affecting all aspects of the employee benefits system. The council's members represent the entire spectrum of the private employee benefits community and either sponsor directly or administer retirement and health plans covering more than 100 million Americans.The health reform proposals put forward by the presidential candidates just doesn't cut it with those most intimately involved in making the current system function -- benefits executives. A survey of benefits managers of companies of all sizes by Miller & Chevalier Chartered and the American Benefits Council found broad concerns about the effects Barack Obama's or John McCain's reform plans would have on the ability of employers to provide insurance to their workers.
"This feedback should be a wake-up call to our political leaders that the people responsible for structuring and managing employer-sponsored health plans, which cover more than 130 million Americans, are deeply skeptical about key elements of both Presidential candidates' reform proposals," says James Klein, president of the American Benefits Council.
Obama would expand health coverage by requiring all businesses to either provide insurance coverage to employees or pay into a national insurance fund -- something 46% of the benefits managers surveyed believed "would have a strong negative affect on their workforce." McCain's proposal to scrap the employee tax exclusion for employer-sponsored health coverage (to pay for a $5000 credit that could be used to buy health insurance) is met with far greater worry -- 74% said the move would have a strong negative impact on their workforce.
Both reform plans would give states a far bigger role in health insurance coverage, something that the benefits executives found especially objectionable. Eighty-four percent said they oppose regulation of employer-sponsored health plans at the state level.
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