Providing quality health care benefits is a top priority for ABC and its member companies.

ABC continues to advocate for policies that would ensure employer-sponsored coverage is strengthened and remains a viable, affordable option for millions of hardworking Americans and their families.

ABC SUPPORTS:

• Allowing Americans to buy insurance across state lines. This would be particularly helpful to those who work in the construction industry, as the unique nature of construction work demands that benefits be portable.
• A tax deduction for the self-employed and for employers. ABC supports raising the self-employed health care deduction to 100% and maintaining the tax deductibility of health insurance premiums for all employers.
• Association Health Plans. AHPs give small businesses the power to pool together to offer health care at lower prices—something many corporations and labor unions already are permitted to do.
• Health Savings Accounts. HSAs are tax-free savings accounts for medical expenses that allow more small business owners to obtain affordable health coverage for themselves and their employees. ABC supports expanding access to high-deductible health plans and HSAs, as well as increasing HSA contribution limits.
• Flexible Spending Accounts. FSAs, or “cafeteria plans,” allow employees to set aside money (pre-tax) each year to be used for medical expenses such as co-pays, deductibles and services not covered under their base insurance plan. ABC supports repealing the annual dollar limit on employee contributions to an FSA.
• Protecting Americans from surprise medical billing. Surprise medical billing occurs when insured patients incur unexpected charges after receiving treatment from out-of-network health care providers. ABC supported legislative efforts to fix surprise billing, that was included in the 2020 omnibus legislation funding the federal government for fiscal year 2021 and providing relief for the COVID-19 pandemic. The new law takes effect for health plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2022 and it applies to nearly all private health plans offered by employers.
• Wellness programs. ABC members have embraced innovative approaches that encourage preventive healthcare, improve employee health outcomes and reduce overall health care costs and premiums. These important benefits are increasingly valued by both employers and their employees. ABC supports legislative efforts that would ensure that employers can continue to administer wellness programs for their employees without fear of undue government interference or litigation.
• Medical malpractice reform. Enacting medical malpractice reform would dramatically decrease the cost of health insurance.

ABC OPPOSES:

• Federal government mandates that force employers to offer a certain level of health care coverage or be subject to penalties.
• Government takeover of the health care system that would end employer-sponsored health care coverage and impose new tax mandates on employers and employees.
• Tax increases that could hinder reinvestment and job creation in the construction industry.

Update

ABC, as a member of the Partnership for Employer-Sponsored Coverage (P4ESC), encourages the 117th Congress to consider the following principles and priorities that are important for ensuring employment-based health coverage thrives:

• Federal government mandates that force employers to offer a certain level of health care coverage or be subject to penalties.
• Government takeover of the health care system that would end employer-sponsored health care coverage and impose new tax mandates on employers and employees.
• Tax increases included in the ACA that will continue to hinder reinvestment and job creation in the construction industry.

ABC looks forward to working with Congress in a bipartisan manner to develop and implement health care policies.