The issue concerns model legislation that requires large employers to spend a percentage of their payroll on employee healthcare benefits or pay a locally enforceable penalty. Variations on this legislation exist in 33 states.
Now Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) has filed two test suits challenging laws that 'unlawfully mandate a specific health care expenditure, single out the retail industry and threaten to eliminate the flexibility that businesses require to meet the needs of their diverse workforce.'
The lawsuits were filed in US District Courts in Baltimore and Brooklyn yesterday and contest mandates by the state of Maryland and by Suffolk County, New York over special health care payroll assessment.
'We all agree that access to health care is vital, but these spending mandates will drive away business and discourage job creation,' said Brad Anderson, RILA chairman and CEO of consumer electricals giant Best Buy.
In the lawsuits, RILA asserts that state and local laws regulating employee health benefit plans are invalidated by federal law and that the statutes violate the Equal Protection Clause of the US Constitution.
No comments yet