Editor’s Note: This post by Sean Hackbarth, originally appeared in ChamberPost, the official blog of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. In Politico today, Bruce Josten, the Chamber's Executive Vice President for Government Affairs, joined Dan Danner, president and CEO of the National Federation of Independent Business, Matthew Shay, president and CEO of the National Retail Federation, and Dirk Van Dongen, president of the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors in penning an op-ed urging the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to come up with an "essential health benefits" package that is "affordable and flexible enough to allow employers and individuals to obtain and maintain health coverage." Failing to do so will make it harder for businesses to offer health care coverage and hire workers:

Since this decision will affect at least 68 million Americans, the stakes are high. It will be the nation’s small- and medium-sized businesses that will be forced to pick up the tab. This is problematic, given that U.S. businesses and workers are already buckling under the weight of staggering health care costs. From 2000 to 2011, average annual health insurance premiums more than doubled from $4,819 to $10,944 for employers, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, and from $1,619 to $4,129 for workers. The bottom line: Affordability is crucial. Rising health care costs are the most significant barrier to obtaining and providing health care coverage.

They sum up their request to HHS:

Regardless of our opinions of this health care law, we realize that if the federal government gets this wrong, our health care system and its markets will be worse than before it was passed. Unless this package is defined with care, the most basic plans will be unaffordable, out of reach to millions of Americans…. Development of this plan must also consider the costs to our nation associated with, and resulting from, the package. Taxpayer costs will greatly increase if more employers are priced out of coverage and more Americans are forced into government-subsidized health care — further threatening our fiscal future.

Read more from ChamberPost, the official blog of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.