Reps. Charles Boustany Jr. (R-La.) and Jim Matheson (D-Utah) reintroduced a bill Friday to repeal the health insurance tax in President Obama’s healthcare law.
The health insurance tax is set to raise about $100 billion over 10 years to help pay for the coverage expansion in the healthcare law, the bulk of which will likely come from private insurance.
Repealing the tax is a top priority for the health insurance industry. The National Federation of Independent Business also praised Boustany and Matheson’s bill.
“With insurance costs for small businesses increasing 96 percent since 2002, levying this kind of tax would adversely affect job creation and economic growth,” NFIB President Dan Danner said in a statement. “The bipartisan approach to legislating taken by Representatives Boustany and Matheson should serve as a model for companion legislation in the U.S. Senate, and for so many other legislative issues being debated in Congress.”
Bills to repeal the tax have been introduced but gone nowhere since Obama signed the healthcare law.