Pass the Senate measure ASAP

To suggest that Congress must choose between fixing the Affordable Care Act and passing the Senate’s Better Care Reconciliation Act misses a key point: Even if the Senate bill becomes law, we will still need to fix the ACA.

The National Retail Federation supports the Senate bill because it would effectively repeal the employer mandate, eliminate the ACA taxes and expand flexibility for increasingly popular health savings accounts. The Senate should pass its bill as soon as it can.

We also support bipartisan improvements to the ACA such as fixing the burdensome reporting requirements, fully repealing the employer mandate, restoring the definition of a work week to 40 hours, and repealing the “Cadillac tax” on certain health plans.

But it is very hard to move these priorities to the president’s desk. That is why House and Senate leaders chose the budget reconciliation path, which allows a bill to pass the Senate with a simple majority.

Reconciliation will affect the ACA unevenly because it allows only a partial repeal. With ei- ther party able to block the other’s priorities, the need for bipartisan legislation becomes acute. Only by working together can lawmakers surmount the filibuster bar to pass the additional changes needed.

Despite doomsday predictions, if the Senate bill becomes law, most employers will continue to offer well- rounded coverage even without a mandate. Individuals are still likely to seek coverage, either from their employer or the open market. And states — even Republican states — are unlikely to race to the bottom of required coverage levels.

Most mandates have originated in the states, where politics are local. Essential benefit requirements are a floor, not a ceiling, and employers aren’t going to back off coverage in a tight labor market. The Congressional Budget Office understood none of this, and thus missed its estimates badly.

The Senate bill supports the employer- based health care system. We urge support for this legislation to help answer our longstanding call for relief from the ACA’s crushing compliance burden.

Neil Trautwein is vice president for health care policy at the National Retail Federation.