RILA Comments on Senate Finance Committee Health Care Reform Vote 

The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) reacted to the Senate Finance Committee’s vote on health care reform legislation with the following statement from John Emling, senior vice president for government affairs.

“Today’s vote by the Senate Finance Committee is the culmination of a thoughtful and deliberative process. We commend Chairman Baucus, Ranking Member Grassley and the other four bipartisan negotiators for their commitment to a thorough review of the broad impact health care reform legislation will have on the benefits that employers provide and employees enjoy. Specifically, RILA applauds the Committee’s inclusion of prevention and wellness incentives in the bill. These incentives are critical to shifting America’s health care delivery system from the simple treatment of illness toward the prevention of disease.”

“RILA members are proud of the health care benefits they provide their employees and remain committed to the goal of expanding affordable health care coverage to more Americans. RILA has worked closely with lawmakers from both sides of the aisle to protect the employer-based insurance system that today is responsible for providing 170 million Americans with health care coverage.” 

“As health care reform advances, the support of the retail industry remains contingent upon overall reduction of systemic costs, preservation of the employer-based system, and changes to proposed enrollment requirements that address the unique challenges faced by high turnover industries like retail. We look forward to working with Members of Congress to achieve health care reform that retailers can support.”

RILA is the trade association of the world’s largest and most innovative retail companies. RILA members include more than 200 retailers, product manufacturers, and service suppliers, which together account for more than $1.5 trillion in annual sales, millions of American jobs and operate more than 100,000 stores, manufacturing facilities and distribution centers domestically and abroad.

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