ANCHORAGE, Alaska, February 22, 2013 – Small business owners and advocates met today to discuss efforts to repeal the costly Health Insurance Tax (HIT) that was included in the president’s health care plan, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).
During the event, small business owners from the Anchorage area discussed how this new tax would only exacerbate the challenges facing small business by further raising the cost of health care for thousands of businesses and their employees in the state. Given the recent introduction of bipartisan legislation by Charles Boustany (R-LA) and Jim Matheson (D-UT) to repeal the HIT, attendees called for Alaska’s representatives to join the fight in eliminating this harmful tax.
“This health insurance tax will be a major burden to small businesses of all stripes,” said Jim Gilles, executive director of Alaska Restaurant & Retailers Association. “It is encouraging to see when members of Congress understand this and work together to make sure the tax does not take effect.”
The HIT is a discriminatory tax born from the president’s health care plan, which would impose over $100 billion in new taxes on the small business community, their employees and the self-employed. The HIT could impact more than 60,000 Alaska small businesses and 280,000 workers and families.
Under the law, the tax will be imposed almost entirely on what’s known as the “fully insured market,” where 87 percent of small business owners purchase their insurance. The tax would raise the cost of health insurance premiums for families by approximately $5,000 over the next decade according to an analysis by former CBO Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin.
“Skyrocketing health care costs are a problem for every small business,” said Denny DeWitt, Alaska State Director for the National Federation of Independent Business. “Adding a significant tax increase to those costs will only cause further harm. The bipartisan legislation introduced by Representatives Boustany and Matheson will help small businesses and families, and should have the support of our Alaskan representatives.”
Today’s event was hosted by NFIB Alaska and members of the Stop The HIT Coalition, an organization representing small business owners, their employees and the self-employed who support a repeal of the HIT and seek to educate policymakers about the impact of the pending tax.
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The Stop The HIT Coalition represents the nation’s small business owners, their employees and the self-employed who are actively working to repeal the Health Insurance Tax. Since the Coalition’s formation in 2011, it has grown to include more than 35 national organizations, representing millions of small business owners across the country. For more information, please visit www.StopTheHIT.com.