RILA files 2 law suits for health care plan

09 Feb '06

3 min read

Retail trade association The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) filed suits challenging two 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.

“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 andvice chairman & CEO of Best Buy Co Inc. “They're simply unlawful and unwise.”

The mandates, enacted by the state of Maryland and by Suffolk County, N.Y. were intended to target specific companies, and require them to pay a special health care payroll assessment.

"The health care system cannot be fixed with a patchwork of state and local mandates that require individual industries to play by different rules," said James M. Myers, CEO of PETCO Animal Supplies, Inc., a RILA member. "It's a national issue that requires a national approach."

“The health plan spending mandates that we are challenging today do nothing to fix the problem they claim to address, and, in fact, divert focus and resources away from real solutions,” said RILA President Sandy Kennedy.

In the lawsuits, RILA asserts that state and local laws regulating employee health benefit plans are invalidated by federal law, specifically the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

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