Search the News Archive

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Comment Letter to IRS on Reporting of Health Insurance Coverage (PDF)

"[The Chamber believes] the reporting requirements contained in this provision are statutorily placed on those who offer minimum essential coverage and are therefore not likely to be penalized under the free rider penalty. [The Chamber does not believe] that this provision applies to employers who may be penalized for not offering coverage or having employees whom receive tax credits. [The Chamber believes] the statute intended to place a lower reporting requirement and burden on those employers who offer minimum essential coverage.... Not only [does the Chamber] have concerns about the Notice's interpretation of which provisions apply to which classifications of employers, the Chamber also has concerns which specific section of Section 6055 applies to employers."

Health and Retirement Priorities for the 113th Congress: U.S Chamber of Commerce Looks at Year in Review and Year Ahead (PDF)

"Although the Chamber is committed to reforming the nation's health care system to lower costs, improve quality and access, and build a more value-driven system, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) does not accomplish these goals.... The Chamber supports repealing the employer mandate to not only protect existing jobs, but to spur the creation of new jobs by removing much of the fear and uncertainty employers are experiencing.... The Chamber intends to work with Congress and other interested parties in finding solutions to longterm funding issues in the multiemployer pension plan system.... The Chamber believes that raising the PBGC premiums, without making comprehensive reforms to the PBGC or the defined benefit system, amounts to a tax on employers that have voluntarily decided to maintain defined benefit plans."

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Files Suit Against FTC's Noncompete Ban

"The Chamber alleges in its complaint that 'the economy as a whole will suffer' because dominant firms snatch the best employees from startups and small businesses. The Chamber argues that the FTC's Rule is an assertion of power that is contrary to centuries of state and federal law and relies on 'novel claims of authority.' " [Chamber of Commerce of the U.S.A. v. Federal Trade Commission, No. 24-00148 (E.D. Tex. complaint filed Apr. 23, 2024)

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Comment Letter to CMS on 2015 Letter to Issuers in the Federally-Facilitated Marketplace (PDF)

"Of the seven chapters in the Draft 2015 Letter, there are several areas of significant concern to the Chamber because of the significant impact that many of the proposed provisions would have on limiting choice, flexibility and variation in benefit plan design offerings on the Federally-facilitated Marketplace (FFM) ... In limiting choice and flexibility, these restrictions will also increase costs by limiting the tools that issuers and employers have historically used to control costs. Finally, the Chamber finds many of the proposals in the Draft 2015 Letter to be beyond the scope of the [ACA]."

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Comment Letter to OSHA About Interim Final Rule on ACA Procedures for Handling Retaliation Complaints (PDF)

"[The Chamber urges] the Administration to remain mindful of the damage that this [interim final rule ('IFR')] will inflict by giving disgruntled employees and job-applicants -- particularly the many millions who will receive federal subsidies -- an open-ended opportunity to pursue frivolous claims. To mitigate this, we recommend more precise definitions and more equitable treatment for employers or respondents. The Chamber also has significant regulatory procedure concerns with the IFR. OSHA has issued this IFR as an interpretive rule and in so doing has avoided any of the requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act. OSHA has failed to provide the economic analyses required ... Finally, the Agency also claims that because this is an IFR, no proposal has been issued thereby allowing the Agency to avoid any the requirements of the Regulatory Flexibility Act."

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Comment Letter to HHS on Proposed Regs for Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2014 (PDF)

"[The Chamber remains] concerned about the Administration's apparent procedural short-cuts and worry that it will deter the public from participating in the regulatory process.... [Further, the Chamber remains] concerned that several parts of the Proposed Rule are overreaching to inappropriately advance ideological goals. The statutory language imposes significant burdens on employers, insurers and individuals. Additional burdens will only harm the affordability of coverage and undermine the goal of improving access to affordable coverage.... Finally, the Chamber has serious concerns about the economic impact analysis in the Proposed Rule [and is] gravely troubled that the lack of economic analysis conducted and provided by HHS and CMS will inhibit the public's ability to properly assess the proposal."

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Comment Letter to IRS on Minimum Value of an Employer-Sponsored Health Plan (PDF)

"[The Chamber] strongly recommends that the safe harbor concept be broadened ... Given that only two percent of individuals were then covered by plans which failed to meet the 60 percent actuarial value threshold, it will be an even smaller percentage once these plans are outlawed.... [Also, the Chamber disputes] the position taken in this Notice (and in the Actuarial Value and Cost-Sharing Reduction Bulletin by the Department of Health and Human Services) that, when calculating the minimum value of the contribution made by the employer to an HSA or HRA, only a portion or 'appropriate amount' of these employer contributions would be credited to the actuarial value calculation. Instead, the entire amount of the employer contributions should be included."

Letter from U.S. Chamber of Commerce to House of Representatives on the Health Care Cost Reduction Act (HR 436)

"The U.S. Chamber of Commerce ... strongly supports H.R. 436 ... The new requirement that FSA and HSA account holders cannot use tax-preferred funds from these accounts to purchase OTC items unless they obtain a prescription limits access to affordable care, increases costs to the health care system, and places a new administrative burden on medical professionals. ... However, the Chamber is concerned about the FSA cash-out provision of the bill, which would allow employees to take the funds that remain in their accounts at the end of the year."

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Comments to DOL on Proposed Regulation for Automatic Portability

"The Chamber supports automatic portability as a way to increase retirement savings. However, the Chamber is concerned that certain provisions in the Proposed Regulation would discourage automatic portability by making it more difficult for an automatic portability provider to operate and for a plan sponsor to participate in such a program.... [The Chamber is] concerned that number of provisions in the Proposed Regulation are not within the scope of the statute and how DOL may try to apply these provisions to other individual and class PTEs in the future."

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Comment Letter to DOL on Fiduciary Proposal (PDF)

46 pages. "As a fundamental matter, the Chamber believes an entity or person giving investment advice for a fee should do so under a heightened standard of care. However, the regulation of investment advice must be with the appropriate regulator overseeing such advice and each regulator applying the law as directed by Congress. [The Chamber believes that] some aspects of the Proposed Regulation and the Amended PTEs are not within DOL's powers."