The National Retail Federation said it was disappointed with  Thursday's landmark ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court upholding the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. 


“The Court missed an opportunity to redress the many shortcomings of the law,” said President and CEO Matthew Shay.


“As it stands, the law wrongly focuses more on penalizing employers and the private sector than reducing health costs. For these reasons, NRF has been a consistent skeptic of the Affordable Care Act.


“NRF worked closely with lawmakers throughout the debate with the hopes that bipartisan reform would help make coverage more accessible and affordable. The law that emerged in 2010 was a controversial and partisan measure riddled with punitive mandates and penalties that were as unreasonable as they were unworkable.


“Although the Court upheld the law’s constitutionality, many problems remain: it penalizes employers too much; it doesn’t do enough to reduce the cost of health care; and it is unreasonably complicated and difficult to implement and administer.


“This law will have a dramatic, negative impact on every employer and employee in the United States and further constrain job creation and economic growth.


“NRF will redouble our efforts to repeal the law while we continue to work, in good faith, with regulators to smooth implementation for retailers and businesses alike.”